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A NOVELETTE. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF 


}i . JNI A. R L I T T , 

f .. \ (j ■•O 

The Author of “ The Old Mam' sellers Secret y" “ Gold Elsie" etc. 


IREPRINTED FROM LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZIJVE.] 



PHILADELPHIA 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT AND CO. 
1869. 

\V* 0 , 


0 '^ 


' Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., 

In the Clerk’s OflSce of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Ptainsylvania. 

N 


Lippincott’s Press, 


PHILADELPHIA. 


OVER YONDER. 


CHAPTER I. 

B efore the little door whose iron 
grating allowed a partial glimpse of 
the garden stopped a one-horse chaise. 
The wretched vehicle had rattled down 
the road in flying haste, showing that 
the ugly old horse in the shafts and the 
yellow-painted coach were not quite so 
exhausted and worn out as they ap- 
peared. The rain that poured cease- 
lessly down was apparently a luxury 
which the shriveled, dusty leathern apron 
had not for a long time enjoyed, but the 
elegant trunk fastened beneath it was 
certainly not improved by the black 
brooklets which streamed from the stiff 
folds ; whilst the horse protested by 
snortings and feeble stampings against 
the involuntary shower-bath. He should 
have learned from his driver how one 
can submit to the inevitable with dignity 
and resignation : the thick-skulled lad on 
the coach-box had cracked his whip en- 
ergetically, and then awaited with pa- 
tience the result of his exertions. The 
occupant of the coach, however, like the 
horse, did not seem to sympathize with 
this truly Spartan indifference, for as the 
last crack of the whip re-echoed from 
the mountain, and nothing appeared or 
moved behind the garden-gate save the 
rain which pattered down upon the giant 
rhubarb plants, a tiny female hand ap- 
peared from beneath the leather blind 
that protected the window. The dainty 
fingers, which a silver-gray glove en- 
closed so neatly that even the outlines 
of the delicate, almond-shaped nails were 
visible, seemed to be directed by an im- 
patient owner. They gave themselves 
no end of trouble in the endeavor to 
loosen the leather straps which secured 
the blind outside, in vain. The hand 
was at last withdrawn, and the way in 
which it doubled itself up suddenly into 
a charming little fist, justified the con- 


clusion that its possessor was in a state 
of considerable ill-humor. 

At the same moment the driver 
seemed to consider it advisable to repeat 
his signal ; and this time it was not 
without result. A distant bell sounded, 
and then quick steps approached over 
the crunching gravel. A red cotton um- 
brella appeared behind the gate, and 
under the same a spare old man in a 
striped waistcoat, an old-fashioned coat 
reaching to his heels, and whose queer, 
pinched face was squeezed so closely be- 
tween the sides of a stiff shirt-collar 
that he was forced, like a crocodile, to 
communicate every motion of his head 
to his entire body. After examining the 
new arrival from behind the grating, he 
opened the gate, took the refractory 
window-straps at once in hand, and 
cried, in respectful tones, back to the 
garden : 

“Yes, yes; it is all right, Frau Hof- 
rathin. It is Christian, from Neudorf!” 

Immediately a tall, stately woman ap- 
peared in the doorway. Her strongly- 
marked, swarthy features showed unmis- 
takable traces of joyful excitement and 
expectation ; but at sight of the pitiable 
old vehicle, her expression changed in- 
stantaneously. 

“Is your master out of his senses?” 
she exclaimed to the frightened lad on the 
coach-box. “Isn’t he ashamed of put- 
ting a young lady of position in such a 
miserable old lumber-chest ? Why, it’s 
a regular mouse-den !” 

The reddened brow became still dark- 
er, and over the mouth, which was shaded 
by the tracings of a slight, black beard, 
came a look of angry indignation. Dur- 
ing this outburst the man with the red 
umbrella had unfastened the obstinate 
window-straps : the leather blind and 
the coach door were flung back together, 
and a charming little foot became visible. 

3 



4 


OVER YONDER. 


But it scorned the carriage-steps. Like 
the butterfly from the ugly chrysalis, 
fluttered a graceful, girlish figure from 
the old-fashioned coach to the ground, 
and instantly threw both its arms around 
the neck of the indignant Frau Hofrathin. 

“Don’t be angry with the good old 
stage-master. Aunt Barbchen,” cried the 
young girl, in whose voice, though it 
was trembling with emotion, there ming- 
led a touch of roguishness. “ He de- 
clared positively he could send me no 
farther, because his entire four-footed reg- 
iment had marched out as an escort to 
all his respectable post-chaises ; but I 
was so crazy to get here that I begged 
and teased till he brought out this model 
of elegance, grumblingly enough, from 
the retirement of the coach-house, where 
it had been mourning its lost youth for 
I don’t know how long, auntie dear, 
darling auntie ; and indeed there are no 
mice in it, or else 1 would have run all 
the way here on foot !” And Aunt Barb- 
chen laughed and embraced the girl. 
Then we see that one sleeve of her com- 
fortable gingham morning- robe hangs 
loose at her side : the left arm is want- 
ing. With the right, which at the same 
time supported a dripping umbrella, she 
pressed the slender form tenderly to her 
breast; and strange enough it looked 
to see her large, strongly-shaped head, 
with its bold, almost masculine features, 
bending so affectionately over the sunny, 
delicate little face which gazed up at her 
smiling through its tears. 

“ Now run in the house,” said Aunt 
Barbchen. “Just look at the streaks 
my umbrella has made all down your 
dress ! Couldn’t you wear anything but 
silk on a journey ? And silk spread 
over such a hideous balloon, too ! And 
how on earth are you going to walk over 
the wet gravel in paper-soled boots ? 
Sauer will have to carry you.” 

The man with the red umbrella ap- 
proached at once, and extended his long 
arms with the utmost gravity ; where- 
upon the young lady ran laughing into 
the garden. 

At the same moment a handsome 
equipage rolled up the road. Behind 
the glass windows hung closelv-drawn 


silk curtains, and a negro in livery sat 
beside the coachman on the box. The 
latter drove with the recklessness always 
displayed by his class when they have a 
rich or distinguished personage in the 
carriage behind them. Evidently he 
considered himself the sovereign of the 
broad high-road, for he dashed past the 
dilapidated old post-chaise as though 
unconscious of its existence, as well as 
of that of the peasant-boy, who, mean- 
time, had descended from the seat and 
was occupied in attending to his animals : 
only by a violent spring did the frightened 
fellow rescue his limbs from the aristo- 
cratic wheels and horse-hoofs. The 
alarm seemed to render him speechless, 
but it was unnecessary for him to utter 
a word, for the Hofrathin stood in an in- 
stant by his side, apparently prepared to 
do battle in his behalf. 

“Are those your manners?” she cried 
after the coachman in a powerful, far- 
reaching voice. “ I will have the police 
sent after you for your insolence.” 

The coachman drove on unconcern- 
edly ; the negro, on the contrary, turned 
and displayed both rows of his dazzling 
white teeth in a mocking grin. A mo- 
ment afterward the carriage disappeared 
in the entrance of the adjoining estate. 

“ See what one gets for having such 
a miserable old concern standing before 
the door !” said the Hofrathin grimly, 
turning to her old servant-man, above 
whose stiff collar a flush of indignation 
was glowing. 

“ That will be water to their mills 
over yonder. Come into the house, 
Sauer,” she continued more calmly, “and 
get that boy a glass of wine. The fright 
has fallen on his limbs : he looks almost 
as shaky as his old chaise.” 

Sauer hurried off, and the Hofrathin 
stepped back into the garden. The rain 
had suddenly abated : a fine mist was 
now falling, and only occasionally a heavy 
drop fell plashing from the twigs upon 
the gravel-walk. The young lady had 
meantime taken refuge under the den.se 
foliage of a tree, and was gazing with 
surprised, wide-open eyes at a new house 
which reared its gleaming white walls on 
the other side of the lofty hedge. 


OVE/? YONDER. 


5 


“ Lilli, you always were, and always 
will be, a crazy-pate,” scolded Aunt 
Barbchen. “ Don’t you know that that 
is the very windiest place in the whole 
garden ? I beg of you, child,” she con- 
tinued excitedly, intercepting the girl’s 
view of the house, “do not look over 
yonder. I make one stipulation — and in 
all seriousness — that you act during your 
visit here as though the world ended with 
the garden hedge. What goes on over 
yonder must not exist for you, if we are 
to remain good friends. You understand 
me, Lilli 

The young lady opened her eyes still 
wider, but at the same moment a charm- 
ing smile illumined her face, and mak- 
ing a mock reverence, she laid her hands 
on her ears and eyes as a sign that she 
would be deaf and blind. 

“ And now let me tell you,” continued 
the Hofrathin, pointing with her umbrella 
to the new house, “ that up yonder every 
day a new nail is driven into my coffin. 
Now run into the house. Raise up your 
dress : don’t you see that the box tree is 
dripping ? A woeful condition your skirt 
v^ill be in !” 

Lilli glanced roguishly back at her 
aunt’s stately, substantial figure, on 
which the undertake^ s work “ over 
yonder ” seemed to have had little effect. 
Then, lifting her dress, she sprang up 
the tolerably steep gravel-path which led 
to the house, seized the forepaws of a 
fat, comfortable-looking cat, which was 
just trotting lazily through the hall, and 
danced her around, till the Hofrathin 
appeared in the doorway, laughing, but 
with her finger raised reprovingly ; and 
the old cook rushed in terror from the 
kitchen to rescue her suffering, asthmatic 
favorite from the hands of the unsym- 
pathetic young lady. / 


CHAPTER II. 

Frau Hofrathin Falk was very 
popular among the inhabitants of the 

town of R Although the habit 

she had of “ telling people the truth to 
their faces ” may not have been the most 
flattering or agreeable, and although she 


always took up arms with the greatest 
energy and decision for any one whose 
reputation was being put through a fiery 
ordeal by the gossiping tongues of the 
little town, yet these slight failings were 
forgotten in the rare generosity which she 
displayed in the use of her considerable 
fortune. To the distressed her hand 
and door were ever open ; her friends 
could count on her aid and discretion in 
any difficulty ; and as, in the whole town 
there was not a child to be found who 
had not at least once eaten fruit and 
cake at the Hofrathin’s, or tumbled over 
the grass-plats in her garden, it was very 
natural that she should be a universal 
“aunt.” The aristocratic “Frau Hof- 
rathin” could not be induced to come 
from the lips of the little ones, they 
found so much easier the confiding name 
“Aunt Barbchen.” 

And this woman, with her heart full 
of love and sympathy, with her strong, 
immutable sense of justice — she had 
come into this world curtailed of her 
most natural rights : she had been born 
with only one arm. The cruel world 
tried to make this error of Nature a 
consequence of the heavenly decree : “ I 
will visit the sins of the fathers upon the 
children.” It was whispered that the 
father of the unhappy infant had prom- 
ised marriage to a poor maiden, and in 
so doing had protested his willingness 
that a terrible punishment should come 
upon him did he break his oath — that 
he had failed to keep his word, and that 
the one-armed daughter was the fulfill- 
ment of the heavenly warning. But no 
one could vouch for this story, which 
never had reached the ears of the poor, 
maimed woman. She was an only child. 
Her father idolized her, and she clung 
to him with all the affection of wiiich her 
gentle heart was capable. To allay his 
anxiety concerning her future, she had 
given her hand, at quite an advanced 
age, by his deathbed, to Hofrath Falk, 
an old friend of the family. But he 
too died after a short but happy mar- 
ried life, and since that time she had 
lived a widow in the home of her child- 
hood, w'ith two most exemplary pieces 
of its household furniture — Sauer, the 


6 


OVER YONDER. 


old servant-man, and the sixty-year-old 
cook, Dorte. 

The house lay beyond the town. The 
broad road, which began at the ugly, 
tower-crowned city gate, ran for a con- 
siderable distance before reaching the 
mountain, which reared its bald, hoary 
crown above the garland of splendid 
beech forests : below, it bent, as it were, 
a knee, on which the house of the Hof- 
rath in lay. 

It was old and ugly. A huge tile 
roof, with two mighty chimneys, sat as 
pretentiously on the one-story front as 
though the latter had been placed there 
solely for its convenience. Several 
thick-stemmed grapevines embraced the 
house, but did not entirely conceal oc- 
casional glimpses of the worn white 
paint and the frames of the windows 
brown with age. And yet it lay there 
sweet and cozy, as though pillowed on 
the green bosom of the wood that wafted 
gently over it its breath — that atmos- 
phere of the romantic with which old, 
hidden hunting- castles are so often 
surrounded. 

On stepping far back in the valley, so 
as to command a view of the whole 
lower breadth of the mountain, a rival 
of the old house was brought to sight, 
which scornfully rendered prominent all 
the dark sides of the latter, and made 
conspicuous all the sins of its builder. 
On the same part of the mountain, only 
separated by a tall, green hedge from 
Aunt Barbchen’s garden, rose the bril- 
liant fagade of a new mansion. A low, 
square tower on the south side over- 
topped the almost flat roof of the main 
building by a story’s height. A graceful 
balcony, transparent and delicate as a 
cobweb, surrounded the battlements, and 
the four windows, which covered nearly 
the whole width of the tower walks, dis- 
played exquisite stained glass paintings 
in gorgeous colors. It seemed almost 
as though the north winds must expend 
all their strength and sharpness on the 
separating hedge. In Aunt Barbchen’s 
garden they breathed upon honest German 
kale and cabbage-heads, upon unadorned 
grass-plats full of meadow flowers : 
« over yonder,” they whispered through 


the twining branches of the laurel and 
in the fragrant boughs of dusky orange 
and pomegranate trees, which shed the 
perfumed rain of their shining blossoms 
on the terrace before the house and 
down on the broad stone steps that led 
into the garden. 

In the Hofrathin’s garden the spring- 
water gurgled from the simple wooden 
pipe into a primeval, moss-grown basin : 
“ over yonder,” fountains scattered their 
silvery drops on the velvet turf* and the 
almost tropical wilderness of roses. One 
could fancy the spirits of the ancient 
German Saga hovering around the house 
that nestled so confidingly among the 
beeches, and beneath whose moss-grown 
roof numbers of swallows’ nests were 
clustering; whilst “over yonder” seemed 
to rule the houris of some warm, glo- 
rious Oriental legend. Formerly there 
had stood on the site now occupied by 
the new house a building as much like 
the dwelling of the Hofrathin as one egg 
is like another ; and formerly no hedge 
divided them. In its place, a beautiful 
avenue of chestnuts led down the moun- 
tain, terminating in a gate, the only one 
in the surrounding wall. 

In these houses lived, with their fam- 
ilies, two cousins — Hubert and Erich 
Dorn. They were highly esteemed in 
the town, and bore the name of being 
extremely wealthy. Their exemplary 
affection for each other had become pro- 
verbial ; never had an angry word passed 
between the two men. Their children 
loved and quarreled, and their mothers 
were wise enough to let complainers and 
complained-of become reconciled without 
their interference. The garden was used 
in common, and in summer they took 
their meals together in the pavilion at 
the end of the chestnut avenue. 


CHAPTER III. 

A BLACK cloud suddenly came over 
the peace of the two households : a new 
passion entered both dwellings, and a 
pallid spectre, the demon Envy, followed 
close on its heels as it crossed the 
thresholds. It was a mania for collecting 


OVER YONDER. 


7 


curiosities which at the same time seized 
upon Hubert and Erich Dorn. It took 
beloved family portraits from the walls, 
and hung gloomy, old oil-paintings in 
their stead. It pushed the precious 
linen closets of the two matrons into 
distant corners, and replaced them by 
glass cases filled with murderous wea- 
pons of every period and description, of 
which the women and children were ter- 
ribly afraid. Ancient Egypt took up its 
abode in the comfortable Thuringian 
homes ; and whilst puzzling over her 
incomprehensible hieroglyphics, the col- 
lectors forgot to explore further the rich 
kingdom of the living tongues in their 
well-stored libraries. At first the two 
women laughed over the sudden fancy 
which had seized both their husbands, 
but gradually dim forebodings came over 
their hearts when they saw the two men, 
formerly so peace-loving, growing violent 
over discussions as to the merits of some 
new acquisition ; when pallid Envy ap- 
peared on the features of the one, and 
on those of the other a triumphant glow ; 
when each, on obtaining some long-de- 
sired antiquity, would at once exclaim, 
exultingly, “ What will he over yonder 
say when he sees it ?” 

The disputes grew more and more 
frequent and more and more violent — 
the moments of reconciliation fewer and 
briefer. At last it happened that the 
cousins burst into a violent altercation 
at the dinner-table, when the quick-tem- 
pered Erich, regardless of the pale, 
frightened faces of the women and chil- 
dren, struck his clenched fist on the 
table, making the plates and glasses 
dance, and rushed furiously from the 
pavilion. The ghost of the murdered 
Concord lingered for a time, wailing 
through the garden, and then took flight 
for ever. 

It happened that a distant relative of 
Hubert’s wife died, leaving her sole in- 
heritor of his estate. Besides a con- 
siderable sum of money and a quantity of 
jewelry, there fell to her lot an oil-paint- 
ing, a superb Van Dyck. She made a 
present of it to her husband, who added 
it, proud and triumphant, to his collec- 
tion. But this very collection was the 


apple of discord between the cousins. 
It did not display a remarkable degree 
of artistic taste, and there was much 
chaff amongst it. Its faults always called 
forth bitter satire from Erich, who was 
himself no indifferent painter, and whose 
gallery displayed the keen critical e}e 
of a connoisseur. But now his triumph 
fell like a house of cards, for “ over yon- 
der,” among the much-disputed copies, 
suddenly appeared the splendid original, 
and he himself possessed no Van Dyck. 

With a white face — Hubert always 
declared that it was distorted with rage 
and jealousy — he stood before the paint- 
ing : all his knowledge on the subject 
and all his examinations led to the same 
painful conclusion — that the picture was 
genuine. With darkened brow he saw 
friends and acquaintances hastening to 
the house “ over yonder.” Every one 
wished to see the wondrous maiden face 
which the long-stiffened hand of the mas- 
ter had conjured upon the canvas. 

Erich could neither eat nor sleep : 
each meeting with his cousin, who al- 
ways led the conversation to the subject 
of the painting, threw him into a feverish 
excitement. At last he fled the sight 
of Hubert : it was impossible for him 
to meet that eye which gleamed with 
triumph. One morning, a cry of sur- 
prise and rage echoed through Hubert’s 
house. There, where but yesterday two 
lovely girlish eyes had beamed, now 
only the empty wall stared blankly down. 
The painting had disappeared ! 

The unhappy collector was beside 
himself. He maintained that his treas- 
ure had only wandered as far as the 
next house, and demanded of Erich 
Dorn its restitution. A frightful scene 
followed, for passion was now glowing 
in the women’s hearts, as well as in 
those of their husbands. Never had 
the demon of Discord raged so terribly 
between the two households as in this 
unhallowed hour. The cousins sepa- 
rated after furious words. For the last 
time in this world their eyes met — in a 
glance full of anger : for the last time '-n 
this world their voices mingled — in mu- 
tual invectives. The same day work- 
men appeared in the avenue : they drove 


8 


OVER YONDER. 


stakes exactly halfway between the two 
dwellings ; the chestnut trees fell under 
the axe. Young bushes were planted 
close together across the pathway, and 
from this time the children from both 
sides hastened daily with their watering- 
pots and watered the saplings well and 
diligently, that they might grow quickly — 
“grow up to the sky.” they said. 

Thus originated the green hedge ; and 
as it sank its roots deep in the earth, 
and spread forth its branches above, so 
did the family hate grow with the chil- 
dren of both houses, and twine its bitter 
tendrils around their hearts. 

It made no change in these unnatural 
sentiments when Erich died suddenly, 
of an attack of apoplexy, a few years 
after the events just narrated. His 
widow, who had loved him passionately; 
was after his death never seen to smile. 

With the greatest bitterness she 
thought of those “over yonder” who 
had clouded the last years of her hus- 
band’s life, and who had endeavored to 
cast a slur upon his good name. Even 
in old age this wound remained unhealed. 
Her eyes, that for many a day had had 
no tears left to shed, sparkled with im- 
placable hatred as she recounted the un- 
happy story over and over again to her 
only grandchild — Aunt Barbchen. 

The little one learned with her first 
thoughts to dread “ over yonder beyond 
the hedge;” and that “over yonder,” 
too, the ancient enmity still flourished, 
the little Barbchen had one day a bril- 
liant demonstration. Hubert, too, had 
grandchildren. They had their French 
governess, and were in all points fash- 
ionably educated. The noise of their 
games and romping echoed over into the 
garden where their solitary little cousin 
nursed her doll, or chased the butterflies 
as far as the dreaded garden-hedge, over 
which, to her childish amazement, they 
fearlessly flew. Then she would linger 
for a moment, listening to the strange- 
sounding tones in which the children 
were conversing. 

One day, as she stood thus, a rust- 
ling was heard in the hedge above : the 
,green branches were parted, and a mis- 
chievous boy’s face appeared, from which 


two dark eyes sparkled insolently down 
at her. He stared for an instant at the 
frightened child, and then, making a 
hideous face, 

“Ah, you’re an ugly girl !” cried he ; 
“ you’ve only one arm ! That’s a judg- 
ment on you ! Grandmamma says so ! 
And you have our picture over there. 
Picture-thief! picture-thief !” 

Even now, in her old days. Aunt 
Barbchen grew red when she remem- 
bered how at this moment 'she had 
snatched a stone angrily and had thrown 
it at the boy, who disappeared behind 
the hedge, laughing mockingly, but quick 
as lightning, to avoid the threatening 
danger. This occurrence had made an 
indelible impression upon her, and in 
her heart, too, the bitterness now took 
root. 

The feud thus advanced a generation 
further, and the grandchildren were as 
little inclined to reconciliation as had 
been their angry grandfathers. 

The years sped on. Hubert’s de- 
scendants had sunk to the grave in a 
good old age : all except one, the boy 
who had so cruelly wounded Aunt Barb- 
chen’s childish heart. He married a 
lady of aristocratic family, and seven 
years after left the little town, in accord- 
ance with the wish of his wife, who was 
extremely proud of her wealth and rank. 

The house and garden were rented, 
and now the dark demon that had so 
long haunted the two homes folded its 
wings together. It seemed as though 
the very trees and bushes must feel re- 
lieved as the last trunk was borne away 
from the house “ over yonder.” 

A long interval of undisturbed peace 
followed for Aunt Barbchen ; till sud- 
denly the modern dwelling rose on the 
other side of the hedge, and a new 
source of strife and vexation looked 
scornfully over the green barrier. The 
Hofrathin was always put out of humor 
for hours when reminded of her de- 
tested neighbors ; but to-day, even the 
insolence of their domestics was for- 
gotten, and a bright smile illumined the 
features of the old woman as her eyes 
rested on the light-footed girl who ran 
before her to the house. 


OVER rONDER. 


9 


Lilli was the daughter of the dearest 
friend of her youth, who had married in 
Berlin ; and as far back as the young 
lady could remember she had always 
passed the summer months with the 
Hofrathin. Her health had been ex- 
tremely delicate, and it was hoped that 
the pure, fresh Thuringian air might be 
beneficial to her. For the past three 
years these visits had been discontinued. 
Lilli’s mother had died, and in the first 
bitterness of his grief her father could 
not bring himself to part with his child. 
He had yielded, even now, only to her 
most earnest entreaties. She longed 
deeply to see Aunt Barbchen, who had 
always loved her as tenderly as though 
she were her own daughter ; hence the 
impatience and the contempt of danger 
with which, at the last railway station, 
she had entered the so-called “ mouse- 
den.” 

Now, she was leaning back in an 
old-fashioned but comfortable arm-chair. 
Instead of the black silk traveling-dress, 
the soft folds of a pure muslin fell around 
a figure on which the Thuringian breezes 
had apparently, so far, exerted in vain 
their boasted strengthening influence. 
Nothing could be more delicate than the 
slight limbs which rested so lightly 
among the cushions that their weight 
appeared scarcely to make an impres- 
sion upon ; and it almost seemed as 
though the dark tresses, twisted at the 
back of the head, were too heavy for the 
slender neck, always bent slightly back, 
as though the incredible mass of hair 
drew it down. In such moments of re- 
pose and tranquillity no one would have 
guessed that those tender limbs could 
instantaneously assume full force and 
energy, and that gentle droop of the 
head could change to an expression of 
youthful buoyancy and perverseness. 

Just as little would it have been sus- 
pected that behind the slightly-arched, 
childish brow, which gleamed like a 
white rose leaf from amongst the rip- 
pling wavelets of hair, there dwelt a 
strong, determined spirit, that possessed 
a marvelous mastery over its frailly-built 
tenement. Her eye was wandering-slowly 
and observantly around the room : she 


nodded now and then and smiled, as 
pleased and happy as a child who sees 
once more his favorite playthings after 
long separation. Yes, it was all just as 
it used to be.. There stood the queer 
old sofa, with its long legs and its thick 
cushions. She knew that, in reality, 
they were covered with heavy green 
silk, and that the stout gingham cases 
only served to protect the antiqua<^ed 
finery. The red and blue hyacinths on 
the brightly-polished chest of drawers 
had lost none of their ancient beauty ; 
and no wonder, for they were of the 
same material as the little fiddler who 
was scraping away beside them, and the 
gentle shepherdess, who, with the smile 
she had worn during Lilli’s whole ac- 
quaintance with her, looked out from 
under her flower-trimmed straw hat : 
they were of porcelain. Ah, and time 
had touched but lightly the two peacock 
feathers crossed above the great looking- 
glass ; and the looking-glass itself still 
reflected the portrait of Aunt Barb- 
chen’s grandmother, which hung oppo- 
site in all the glory of powder and 
patches ; and below, in the corners of 
its gilded frame, stuck various wedding- 
cards and New Year’s congratulations. 

And there came old Sauer ! His coat 
had not become a hairbreadth shorter ; 
neck and shirt-collar still maintained 
their ancient harmony, and his foot went 
through exactly the same well-known, 
grotesque motion, with which he first 
kicked his long coat-tails out of the way, 
and then pushed to the door when he 
had anything in his hands. He brought 
the old-fashioned silver tea-pot and the 
two little cups and saucers of India 
china : the enamel on the cups was just 
as bright as ever, but the veins of ce- 
ment in the saucers had become some- 
what more numerous. What a crowd 
of childish recollections rose in Lilli’s 
mind as a delicious aroma floated from 
the long, ugly nose of the teapot, per- 
fuming the room ! It ^vas, indeed, not 
the costly “Imperial tea” which “his 
Majesty of China” is accustomed to 
imbibe — not the fine Pekoe which the 
spoilt child of the great city drank at 
home — but the leaves of the simple 


10 


OVER YONDER, 


wood-strawberry, which opened their 
perfumed veins under the boiling water, 
and poured forth their healthful, invig- 
orating juices. Aunt Barbchen never 
used any other tea, and when old Dorte 
was in a good humor she would often 
lay a stick of cinnamon among the 
leaves. 

Yes, and up there, beside the antique 
clock, hung the almanac, and the same 
old yardstick, brown with age. And 
behind the glass door, in the tall wooden 
case, the pendulum swung his broad 
disk to and fro in his accustomed leis- 
urely way. He took his time, the easy 
old gentleman, as he could well afford to 
do in that quiet, monotonous household, 
and had never altered his grave, digni- 
fied movement, probably out of friend- 
ship for Aunt Barbchen’s spinning- 
wheel, which stood on the dais by the 
middle window, with a faded, rose-colored 
ribbon twisted around its flaxen locks. 
It hummed and whirred, year in, year 
out, in summer and in winter ; and the 
pendulum was, very properly, of the 
opinion that his tick-tack and her buzz 
formed a more agreeable harmony than 
a mere dialogue between himself and 
one of his own kind. 


CHAPTER IV. 

“ Aunt, do you know the story of 
Adam and Eve V asked Lilli, suddenly. 

Her eye rested on the south window, 
through which the tower of the neighbor- 
ing house was seen. The Hofrathin 
was seated on the dais spinning : she 
turned her head quickly, and glanced at 
the young girl, while a suppressed laugh 
quivered around the corners of her 
mouth. 

“Ah, you rogue !” said she, shaking 
her head and dipping her fingers in the 
water-vessel, she continued her spinning. 

“ That apple only tasted so good to 
him because it was forbidden,” continued 
Lilli, with undisturbed gravity. “Aunt 
Barbchen, I’ve just caught my eyes 
staring again over at that tower, and try- 
ing their best to make out what the pic- 
ture on that stained glass represents. 


It is wrong of them, very wrong, for you 
forbade it ; but I think we had better 
try and help them a little. Haven’t you 
some thick old piece of carpet that you 
could have nailed before the window, 
or — ” 

“And so I am to be deprived of light 
and air for the sake of those ‘over yon- 
der ?’ ” said Aunt Barbchen, half laugh- 
ing, half vexed. “ Child,” she continued 
— and the hum of the spinning-wheel 
ceased — “you are treating a serious 
thing in a jesting way ; but I assure you 
it is very far, indeed, from being a jest. 
I have even more now to suffer from the 
impertinences of the Huberts than I 
had in those days when that impudent 
boy destroyed all the peace of my 
childhood.” 

“ What ! is he still peeping over the 
hedge 

“ Lilli, don’t be so childish !” said the 
Hofrathin, with a touch of impatience in 
her voice. “ He would be fully sixty 
years old, and at that age one does not 
clamber over hedges. He’s dead, and 
his wife too, and I never dreamed, for 
an instant, that yet another would dwell 
‘ over yonder ’ with all the obstinacy 
and haughtiness of the Huberts. But 
one day there he came, blustering along 
like a hurricane — the last of that evil 
family. Not one stone was left upon 
another over yonder, and not a blade of 
grass was allowed to grow as it had a 
mind to. Of course, this was not rny 
concern, and I never did meddle with 
other people’s business ; but that I 
should have my share of annoyance from 
the new neighbors I fully expected, and 
so it turned out. One day an agent 
came to me and inquired, in the name 
of the young gentleman over yonder, 
whether I would sell my house and gar- 
den. I answered just as I felt, and his 
honor the agent went out the door 
quicker than he came in.” 

“Aunt, I’m afraid you weren’t very 
polite.” 

“ Well, child, would you expect me to 
measure my words when the question 
was of parting with my heritage, for 
money I suppose the young gentle- 
man thinks, because he fought in Schles- 


OVER YONDER. 


II 


wig-Holstein. that he too ought to have a 
mania for annexation. At all events, he 
took my candor very ill, for ever since 
that day he’s been trying to spite me. 
At the time when the hedge was being 
planted there was a difficulty about 
the division, for the line ran straight 
through the pavilion. But my grand- 
father and old Hubert Dorn finally agreed 
that it should be left standing, and, as 
the larger portion stood in our garden, 
and the door was on our side, it became 
our property. And now, all on a sud- 
den, the aristocratic gentleman up yon- 
der takes it into his head that his pre- 
cious eyes are offended by the back wall 
of the poor old house, and insists on 
having that portion of it removed which 
stands on his property.” 

“ What ! tear down the dear old 
pavilion !” cried Lilli, springing up, 
excitedly. 

Until this moment she had reclined 
calmly in the arm-chair, balancing one 
of her little morocco slippers on the 
point of her foot. Of the old family 
feud, with its somewhat faded traditions, 
she had never had a very clear compre- 
hension. All the collisions between the 
later generations, of which Aunt Barb- 
chen thought so often and so indignant- 
ly, appeared to her petty and absurd ; 
therefore she had treated jestingly what 
she at first supposed to be some trivial 
cause of vexation and anger to the Hof- 
rathin. But now she had a striking ex- 
ample of the malevolence of the hostile 
neighbors, and one, too, which came 
bitterly home to her own heart. 

She loved the pavilion as a child loves 
an old friend of its parents — one who 
has danced him on his knee, told him 
delightful stories, and ever stretched 
forth his hand to avert the threatened 
punishment. Lilli had always preferred 
to stay in the little old eight-sided build- 
ing rather than in the large dwelling- 
house. Here had the interesting life- 
stories of her dolls developed themselves 
— here, in the cozy parlor, had her child- 
ish heart been filled with the self-im- 
portance of the housewife, for she was 
allowed to use it as a reception-room for 
her little visitors from the town ; and 


for that reason it was often spoken of as 
“ Lilli’s house.” The old walls had been 
witnesses of all the happiness of her 
childhood ; and they had also heard her 
passionate weeping and lamentations 
when everything was packed in the 
dwelling for her return home to the city. 

“ I hope you gave him your opinion 
on the subject as plainly as you did on 
his first application.” 

“ Indeed I did, Lilli. I told him that 
the pavilion stood fiimly on the founda- 
tion, and not one stone of it should be 
moved with my permission ; whereupon 
he brought an action against me !” 

“ The monster !” 

“And they gave judgment against me, 
with instructions to remove my property 
from his land within eight days.” 

“ Outrageous ! And can you bring 
yourself to do it, Aunt Barbchen ?” 

“ I will not have a stone of it touched.” 
She pointed to the portrait of her 
grandmother : “ Why she would turn in 
her grave, if it were done with my 
permission ; but if the fine gentleman 
chooses to have it pulled down himself, 
then, to tell the truth, I have no power 
to prevent him.” 

“And he’ll do it without ceremony, 
depend upon it,” said old Dorte, who 
had entered a moment before, bearing a 
plate of hot waffles — “ he’ll do it, quick 
enough ! Yes, and if it wasn’t for the 
window that looks over into his garden, 
he wouldn’t think of troubling the poor 
old house. But old Sauer might open 
the shutters some day and peep over at 
the beautiful lady ; and that would never 
do!” 

“ What lady does she mean ?” asked 
Lilli, laughing. 

“His wife, I suppose,” ' said Aunt 
Barbchen, hesitatingly. 

“Ah, don’t you bel^e that, Frau 
Hofrathin !” said Dorte, unmindful of 
her mistress’ reproving glances. “ It’s 
his sweetheart. Fraulein Lilli, they are 
like heathens over yonder, and the 
master there is as jealous as a Turk. 
Not a person in the whole town knows 
what the lady looks like who lives 
over yonder — not even his own coach- 
man and servants. The African stands 


12 


OVER rONDER. 


sentinel before her door, and carries her 
meals in too ; and how, on earth, a 
Christian person can have such a black 
monster about him ! It frightens me 
out of my wits every time he opens his 
mouth : I always think of the whale 
that swallowed Jonah. The lady has to 
wear a thick veil before her face, and 
when she drives out, the curtains of the 
carriage are all tightly drawn. Once, as 
I was standing before the garden door, 
the carriage drove by, and a hand from 
the inside pulled and drew at the cur- 
tain. Little bits of fingers they were, 
and looked as if they were made of wax ; 
and such rings ! Why, they sparkled 
and shone like real carbuncles ! He 
must be a regular heathen, to keep a 
poor woman shut up that way ! And he 
looks like one, too ! As he rides about 
on his estate (he has bought Lieben- 
berg), and comes clattering down the 
road on his jet black horse, he frightens 
me to death, he looks so proud and 
lofty.” 

“ He is like his father,” said Aunt 
Barbchen to Lilli. “ He always thought 
the world too narrow and the ground too 
lowly for him to walk on. He grafted 
an aristocratic branch on the honest old 
Dorn stock, but it did not flourish in 
the burgher atmosphere, so he must 
needs buy himself nobility. Bought 
nobility ! That means bought merits ! 
Folly ! folly ! It reminds me of the 
selling of indulgences — with this ditfer- 
ence, that in this case it is the world, 
and not the Church, that has taken the 
nonsensical business in hand ; but there 
are rogues in all ages, who assume long, 
earnest faces, and draw their profit by it.” 

She pushed the spinning-wheel from 
her, and shook off the shreds from the 
white cloth which had lain upon her 
knees. 

“ I’ve gotten on an aggravating sub- 
ject,” said she, getting up. “Fruitless 
thoughts, with which an old woman who 
ought to prepare for eternity should not 
trouble herself The old idols tumble 
down to-day, and the world dances 
around a new golden calf to-morrow. 
Come, Lilli, pour me out a cup of tea. 
Doesn’t it smell fresh and nice ? I 


gathered the leaves in the wood myself : 
they make healthy blood and rosy cheeks ; 
and you need both, little moonlight face.” 

They sat together for a long time in 
conversation. The last perfume-cloud 
from the teapot had long been dissipated 
in the air. The shadows of night gath- 
ered in the corners of the room ; then 
around the dial-plate of the house clock, 
and at last hung a dark veil over the 
gilded frame of the grandmother’s por- 
trait. Soon all became so still that the 
little fiddler might courageously have 
begun the charming violin solo for 
which, during so many years, his bow 
had been in position. Out in the garden 
the thousand leaves and flowers grouped 
themselves into marvelous figures, and 
not a breath of air dared to disturb the 
contours traced by the hand of Night. 

Suddenly a brilliant, many-colored 
light glowed on the dark summits of 
the trees, awakening the white nodding 
flowers from their slumbers. A hang- 
ing lamp was burning in the tower- 
chamber. The beautiful woman up yon- 
der, in her white satin robe, with the 
waves of jet-black hair floating over her 
bosom, who had once faltered her words 
of love in the protecting shades of 
night, now bent eagerly forward in the 
full glow of light, and no blush of shame 
tinged the paleness of her lily face. 
Her white arms were thrown around 
him who had so boldly mounted the 
balcony, and who, in her intoxicating 
whispers, forgot the death-peril. The 
unhappy daughter of the Capulets never 
smiled more sweetly to her Romeo than 
did her lovely image here on the fragile 
glass. 

Behind the figures on the window a 
shadow was gliding restlessly. A man, 
apparently, was walking with quick steps 
to and fro. Was that the evil neighbor, 
the Bluebeard, who kept a miserable 
woman so closely imprisoned that no 
eye but his own might rest on her lovely 
features ? Lilli did not venture to ask 
the question, for she was unwilling to 
cause Aunt Barbchen pain by reviving 
an unpleasant subject ; and at this mo- 
ment old Sauer entered with the lamp. 
His creaking boots woke the Hofrathin 


OVER YONDER. 


13 


from a light slumber. She started up 
smiling, and placed her spectacles before 
her drowsy eyes to read a while. Mean- 
time, Sauer closed the shutters. The 
old fellow attended first of all to the 
south window, almost hastily, and, look- 
ing back at Lilli, murmured something 
about “sinful spectacle.” For an in- 
stant longer glowed the superb painting 
from the tower-chamber, and then van- 
ished behind the gray, inexorable win- 
dow-shutters. 

Lilli took the papers from the Hof- 
rathin’s hand and read aloud until the 
house-clock struck ten. Aunt Barbchen 
regulated all her movements by the 
hoarse voice of the old monitor. With 
the last stroke she rose, and leading 
Lilli to the guest-chamber, kissed her on 
the forehead and bade her good-night. 
Here the shutters were not shut, and the 
window too was open wide. The room 
was filled with the odor of the flowers 
which grew in the borders outside, and 
a pale shimmer was quivering over the 
white bed. The moon was shining, and 
the last dark cloudlets of the storm were 
driving across her broad disk like night- 
revelers who had lost their way. “ Over 
yonder,” the lonely shadow was still 
pacing up and down. A solitary moon- 
beam, trembling through a rift in the 
clouds, wandered powerless over the 
glowing tints of the stained glass win- 
dow ; but gradually the gloomy layer 
disappeared from the sky, and, like an 
incessant stream of lava, poured the 
pale light over the borders of the clouds, 
and quickly lay below, spread upon the 
earth like a glorifying veil, making her 
face strange and mysterious like that of 
a sphynx, which awakens in human 
bosoms enigmas never to be solved, and 
which we sum up in the single word, 
“ SehnsuchtP 

The hanging lamp in the tower-cham- 
ber was now extinguished ; but this was 
not a time to close in shutters and lay 
one’s sleepless eyes upon the pillow, 
thought Lilli. Bluebeard over yonder 
was certainly going to rest, with his 
white and black household ; and this 
was the very moment to take with im- 
punity a glimpse of the forbidden, dread- 


ed, and yet so enticing magnificence on 
the other side of the hedge. She slipped 
noiselessly into the hall, and crept to the 
door which led into the garden, unseen 
by old Dorte, who was still sitting up in 
the kitchen with Sauer. 

Hark ! Was not that the full, deep 
tone of an indescribably touching human 
voice that trembled through the air ? 
And again, and yet again ! The tender 
notes followed each other, ebbing and 
flowing in unearthly beauty. Was the 
mournful melody the echo of a con- 
quered sorrow, or of a secret, unsatis- 
fied yearning.? It was no human voice, 
though, but a violoncello, whose rich 
tones were sounding through the now 
opened tower window. Lilli listened 
breathlessly. She forgot that she was 
standing in her thin slippers on the 
damp gravel, and that to-morrow the 
hem of her white muslin dress would 
turn traitor and witness against her. 

And who was it enticing from the in- 
strument such sympathetic tones ? Who 
was it that in the silent night poured 
forth in song the depths of a longing 
heart ? It could never be the imperious 
man who spurred his black steed on so 
wildly that one trembled before him — 
who imprisoned helpless women and 
guarded them like a Cerberus .? 

As the last echo of the adagio hov- 
ered in the air, Lilli stole noiselessly to 
the pavilion. She could not look over 
the hedge — even old Sauer wasn’t tall 
enough to do that — for the green wall 
was very high and impenetrable ; but 
there was the window on whose ac- 
count, so Dorte declared, the old house 
was doomed. How often had Lilli 
climbed through it, years before, to play 
with the children of the family which 
then rented Hubert Dorn’s estate. 

It was so late now that she surely 
would not be seen, and, moreover, the 
pavilion lay in the shadow. The win- 
dow had evidently not been opened 
since she herself had closed it the last 
time she was in here, three years before, 
for the fastenings were rusted, as were 
also the bolts of the shutters. At last 
she pushed the sash gently back. 


14 


OVER YONDER. 


CHAPTER V. 

T here it lay before her — Blue- 
beard’s moon-illumined castle, and 
all the mysterious, alluring enchantments 
behind which, in the awful legend, blood- 
streams were trickling. 

Magic seemed rising from the strange- 
shaped flower-cups — magic seemed hov- 
ering around the shimmering sheaves of 
water that sprang heavenward, and then 
floated back to earth in silvery vapor. 

There, from the dusky thicket, gleamed 
a marble statue : the slender female 
figure stretched forth its arms implor- 
ingly, as though seeking to shun the 
embraces of the ivy which had ensnared 
it. 

The moonlight rested in a thousand 
quivering sparks on the troubled surface 
of the water : it shone full and glorious 
on the windows of the tower : it gazed 
boldly through the silken curtains, and 
perhaps smiled on the lovely eyes, of 
which no one knew whether they shed 
tears of sorrow or beams of happiness. 
Did the fountains know, ever rustling 
and whispering ? Or the bright-colored 
flowers, w'hose closed mouths seemed to 
guard the secret.? Perhaps the light 
foot of the jealously-watched one had 
wandered by them, and they had looked 
up into her downcast eyes. 

Lilli had mechanically pushed the 
shutter more and more open. On her 
shoulder lay the giant leaves of the aris- 
tolochia which partly covered the back 
wall of the pavilion, and in whose green 
chalices the last drops of the storm were 
rolling and shining : then a shower of 
them slipped down from the twigs of the 
trees, disturbed by the moving of the 
shutters. A frightened peacock flew 
from among the branches, and, expand- 
ing its wondrous plumage, stepped noise- 
lessly and majestically across the moon- 
lit grass-plat. Intoxicating odors floated 
in the air, the fountains rnurmured and 
the brilliant bird wandered on. The 


whole looked so unearthly and ghost-like 
that it seemed as if evoked by a magic 
spell, only to vanish again. And now 
the melody in the tower-chamber rose 
once more. Lilli seated herself on the 
parapet of the window, clasped her hands 
on her knee, and gazed enthralled at 
the wondrous, forbidden \vorld within. 
But did it not seem as though the mar- 
ble figure had suddenly stepped from its 
pedestal and was wandering down the 
silent, leafy path ? No : the white, cold 
arms are still stretched forth, and the 
moonbeams and the soft night air glide 
carelessly over the motionless features. 
But in that form approaching nearer and 
nearer life was pulsing : a sigh floated 
to Lilli’s ears. That must be the beau- 
tiful young captive of cruel Bluebeard. 
The apparition paused for an instant 
and listened to the adagio. It was a 
tall, almost regal figure, but the flowing, 
airy robe hung around a slender, grace- 
ful form. The right hand lay in the 
bosom, as if to hush the stormy heart — 
the left hung carelessly at her side. 
There was an indescribable grace in the 
attitude, but something, too, of the help- 
lessness and resignation of the willow 
when it droops its tender branches to 
the earth. Surely even in this moment 
tears must be flowing over that bowed 
face. What form, what expression had 
those features which seemed to shun 
even the moonlight .? That could not 
be guessed, for a black veil fell over the 
head and shoulders like a dark cloud, 
and down on either side, concealing the 
face. 

In Lilli’s brain fairy-tales and reality 
whirled in confusion for a moment 
longer, but she felt instinctively that she 
would not for the world be seen, and 
endeavored to slip noiselessly from the 
window-sill, her eye still resting, spell- 
bound, on the apparition “ over yonder.” 

Why didn’t the prisoner make her 
escape if she was wretched and unhappy ? 


OVER rONJJER, 


15 


To climb over the hedge and flee into 
Aunt Barbchen’s garden and protection 
was, in Lilli’s opinion, no impracticable 
enterprise : she herself would have dared 
far more to set that tyrant over yonder 
at defiance : nay, she would rather die 
than live in such captivity. 

That this oppressed woman might, 
perhaps, bear her yoke voluntarily, be- 
cause she loved her jailer, did not occur 
to Lilli for an instant, simply because 
she had never experienced the feeling 
of love, and consequently had no idea 
of its inconsistencies and contradictions. 
Her heart swelled at the thought that 
perhaps she might be able to aid this 
unhappy one ; and therefore she did not 
leave the window, but leant her lovely 
little head far out, full of heroic decision, 
and allowed the moonlight fully to illu- 
mine her light figure, which hung like 
a swinging elf-child among the byroad- 
leaved vines. 

A piercing shriek echoed through the 
air. The unknown tore the veil over 
her face, held it fast with crossed hands 
on her breast, and fled like a hunted 
creature across the grass-plat and up the 
stone steps leading to the house. A 
door on the terrace was thrown open 
from within, and in the full glare of 
several lamps the negro appeared on 
the threshold. The lady almost sank to 
the ground on reaching his side, but re- 
covered herself, and, stretching one arm 
back toward the pavilion, she vanished 
in the hall. Lilli had gazed as if petri- 
fied at this scene, but now she caught 
eagerly at the shutters and drew them 
close, for the negro was rushing madly 
down the terrace steps. 

'^1.. had just pushed in the bolts with 
:ri. ’ ig hands when the gravel under 
ih V.- idow was crushed beneath his 
' s. He struck his fist against 

me siiutter until the old wood groaned, 
and poured forth a volley of curses and 
imprecations in broken German. The 
young girl’s fingers grasped the lower 
bolt convulsively and pressed it down. 
Through the slats, close by her ear, 
sounded the hoarse voice of the angry 
black : she seemed to feel his hot 
breath on her face. An unspeakable 


terror came over her, but she remained 
motionless at her post of defence in the 
pavilion. 

Fortunately, her heroism was put to 
no further test : a commanding voice, 
apparently proceeding from the tower, 
ordered the negro back to the house. 
He was instantly silent and withdrew 
with hasty steps. 

It was the first time in her life that 
Lilli had been the cause of trouble to 
Aunt Barbchen. Every nerve in her 
body had thrilled at the clamor of the 
furious man, which surely must have 
pierced to the Hofrathin’s bed-chamber; 
and to-morrow — yes, to-morrow — Blue- 
beard would avenge himself for the at- 
tempt to penetrate his secret. 

She left the pavilion, reproaching 
herself bitterly, and stole back to the 
house. Sauer and Dorte were standing 
with outstretched necks and unmistaka- 
ble curiosity on a garden bench, en- 
deavoring to get a peep over the im- 
placable hedge. The uproar in their 
neighbor’s garden was evidently very 
interesting to the two old eavesdroppers. 
Their backs were turned to Lilli, who 
succeeded in gaining the house and her 
bed-room unperceived. 

Now, indeed, she was willing enough 
to close both shutters and windows, 
and drawing the motley calico curtains, 
she buried her eyes deep in the pillow. 
The shriek of the flying woman and 
the imprecations of the dreadful negro 
sounded through her dreams. She had 
had enough for the present of the mag- 
nificence “ over yonder.” 

But where were all the terrors of the 
night when Lilli stepped out into the 
garden next morning ? Fled before the 
sunlight, that, like immortal Truth, had 
chased with its fiery svyord the children 
of darkness, the doubtful images of twi- 
light. “ Over yonder,” the tower reared 
its gleaming pinnacle against the deep 
blue of the morning sky: the sunbeams 
fell as gayly and fearlessly on the bright- 
colored stained glass as on Aunt Barb- 
chen’s chamber windows. It did not 
look like a prison or the dwelling-place 
of crime. 

On the other side of the hedge, as 


i6 


OVER rONDER. 


well as on this side, the dewdrops 
sparkled pure and clear on the points 
of the leaves, and the beech wood wafted 
its fresh, heart-strengthening perfume 
impartially over both gardens. Ah, how 
refreshingly did it stream through the 
wide open door into the old hall ! And 
when one stood on the deeply-worn 
stone steps before the door, how Eden- 
like lay the valley below, deeply embed- 
ded between the two forest-crowned 
mountains, blooming and rosy in the 
morning-light, like a child in its cradle 
opening its young eyes smilingly after a 
sweet slumber ! 

All fears and anxieties had disap- 
peared from Lilli’s heart ; only the won- 
drous violoncello tones still lingered in 
her ears : they had made an impression 
on her like a look from deep, melancholy 
eyes. 

She went to the arbor, in which, in 
fine weather. Aunt Barbchen generally 
breakfasted. The Hofrathin was walk- 
ing up and down on the long gravel 
walk before the entrance. She stooped 
now and then to pull up an impudent 
weed from the vegetable beds, or lifted 
the branch of a currant bush and ex- 
amined the clusters which hung, not yet 
quite matured, but in large quantities, 
thereon. Aunt Barbchen’s currant wine 
was renowned among all her friends and 
acquaintances. 

Within the arbor, on the white garden- 
table, the New Testament lay open : she 
had been accustomed for years to read 
her morning chapter here. She said 
not a word of the occurrences of the 
night before : perhaps she had slept so 
soundly that she had not heard them. 
So much the better. But there came 
Dorte with breakfast, and — oh woe ! — 
the stiff strings of her white linen cap 
were unfastened and hung loose down 
her back ! That was the unfailing sign 
of a tempest with her : whenever she 
was angry or provoked she always tore 
open the neatly-tied knot beneath her 
chin, threw the strings boldly over her 
shoulders, placed her right arm akimbo, 
and then the storm burst. 

Her “good-morning” sounded so 
vexed and excited that the Hofrathin 


asked, with a smile, if she had slept 
badly. 

“ Oh, Sauer is so stubborn !” replied 
she, grumblingly, placing the plates on 
the table with a trembling hand. “He 
thinks, because he takes the Dorf Zei- 
tung, that he is the cleverest person in 
the world, and one daren’t open their 
mouth before him. But I’m not of that 
opinion, I can tell him. It happened in 
Erfurt, and my godmother, who told 
me about it, lived in Erfurt ; and she 
wouldn’t tell me a lie ! Such a woman 
as she was ! So resolute ! Worth ten 
men like Sauer ! Once upon a time 
there lived a general in Erfurt who was 
an out-and-out heathen : he drank and 
played from early in the morning till late 
at night, and moreover did some wicked 
things which a respectable person can- 
not repeat. One night he gave a ball ; 
and such goings on ! But just as the 
clock struck twelve there stood before 
the ball-room door a tall black man. No 
one knew how he had got in. He had 
the general called, and then such an 
awful thing happened ! The windows 
flew open of themselves : there was a 
stamping and tramping, as if wild horses 
were galloping over the stairs, and the 
general shrieked piteously, but tvhen the 
guests rushed out, they had both disap- 
peared, and were never seen again. The 
coal-black man was — begging your par- 
don — the devil, and had carried the gen- 
eral off. I told it, in all innocence, to 
Sauer, and the old fellow was so rude ! 
He threw the boots which he had just 
done polishing on the ground, and said 
I had better go to the old woman’s asy- 
lum at once, for there they might still 
believe such trash.” 

The Hofrathin suppressed a smile 
with difficulty, for Dorte was really hurt. 

“ But how on earth did you get on 
such a frightful subject, Dorte?” asked 
she. 

“Why,” said the old cook, passing 
the corner of her blue linen apron over 
her heated face, “ because I thought the 
noise last night sounded exactly as if the 
Evil One was carrying off some poor 
soul.” 

“What noise?” inquired the Hofra- 


OVER YONDER. 


17 


thin, in surprise. Lilli bent her face 
over her cup : the thunder-cloud was 
about to burst upon her head. She did 
not fear Aunt Barbchen’s reproof: on 
the contrary, she would have received it 
most humbly, for she knew she was in 
fault. But the thought was painful in 
the extreme that her motherly friend 
should suffer annoyance through her 
disobedience. 

“Don’t say, Frau Hofrathin,” cried 
Dorte, striking her hands together above 
her head — “don’t say that you didn’t 
hear that heathenish uproar last night ! 
Over yonder everything was turned 
topsy-turvy ! Sauer thinks maybe the 
lady was trying to run away, and they 
caught her. Poor thing ! I wouldn’t 
like to stand in her shoes. It’s danger- 
ous to cross him over yonder.” 

“Is he really such a wretch ?” asked 
Lilli, considerably relieved and inwardly 
amused at the comical explanation of 
last night’s adventures. 

“ Ah, fraulein, you ought just once to 
hear how he scolds his servants. Why, 
I can hear him plainly even in my 
kitchen. But scolding and abusing 
don’t satisfy him : he must see blood. 
Believe me, that’s the only reason why 
he went to the war. Sauer thinks so 
too.” 

“ He may have had other reasons, 
Dorte,” said the Hofrathin. “ He was 
badly wounded at Oeversee, and had to 
be brought home here in a dreadful 
condition. For the rest,” added she, 
sternly, “ this quarrel between you and 
Sauer is a well-deserved punishment for 
you both. How often must I repeat 
that I positively forbid your concerning 
yourselves in any way about what goes 
on over yonder .?” 

Dorte replied, considerably cast down, 
that “one could not always have cotton 
in one’s ears,” and withdrew. 


CHAPTER VI. 

Later in the day the Hofrathin went 
to the town to visit a sick friend. Lilli 
improved this opportunity by roving all 
over the house and garden, not forget- 
2 


ting the pavilion. It was fortunate that 
Aunt Barbchen had confined her morn- 
ing walk to the gravel path before the 
arbor, for the pavilion door was still 
wide open, and doors and windows open 
during the night were her especial hor- 
ror. Lilli opened both the windows that 
looked on the Hofrathin’s garden. The 
bright light fell on the dear old walls 
and furniture: everything was just the 
same : nothing seemed to have been 
moved during the three years’ absence 
of the young girl. When she was last 
at Aunt Barbchen’s, Lilli had still played 
with dolls very diligently. The day be- 
fore her departure she had arrayed all 
the inhabitants of her doll-house in 
holiday robes to attend a grand farewell 
festival. There they were still, with 
stiff, outstretched arms, induced with 
difficulty to assume a sitting position 
around a great round table — a merry 
company. A huge Harlequin cowered 
sorrowfully in a corner of the room, ban- 
ished from the coffee-drinking circle of 
ladies ; and the fat baby in the cradle 
waited for its nurse as helplessly as ever. 

The maiden felt herself suddenly 
borne away from the present. She 
crouched down on the ground before 
the puppets, and recalled, laughingly, all 
that her fancy had made these little 
hollow-headed creatures feel and experi- 
ence. She had been obliged to learn 
much since then — horribly much ! — to 
improve her mind, but her feelings had 
remained unchanged. 

And there, too, stood the old furni- 
ture that she loved so dearly. It had 
descended from the days when the mem- 
bers of the two families met so happily 
and affectionately in this very room. On 
the walls hung oil-paintings, all done by 
the hand of Erich Dorn, Aunt Barb- 
chen’s grandfather. They displayed only 
a moderate amount of talent ; and the 
subjects reflected the gloomy feelings of 
the artist. He seemed to have found 
most pleasure in the representation of 
dark, gloomy scenes from history and 
mythology. Directly over Lilli’s play- 
corner hung a large picture that in early 
years often and often, in the gathering 
twilight, had struck panic to her childish 


i8 


OVER YONDER, 


heart. It was “ Orestes pursued by the 
Furies.” Painted with flying pencil and 
a certain degree of haste, many of the 
figures were strikingly out of propor- 
tion — a fault which would have rendered 
the picture somewhat ridiculous if it had 
not been redeemed by the head of Or- 
estes. The face had something over- 
powering in its expression. It was not 
alone the intense horror in every feature 
that chained the eye of the observer 
even against his will: deeper still seemed 
to gnaw the bitter pangs of remorse, 
which the painter, generally so stiff and 
awkward, had portrayed with a truly 
masterly hand upon this countenance. 

Shortly before his death, Erich Dorn 
had hung these pictures with his own 
hands. He lingered long and gladly 
among his creations, and on his sudden 
departure from this world the last 
words which he with difficulty had 
murmured forth had been, “ The pa- 
vilion.” Therefore his wife had looked 
upon the little old house as a sacred 
legacy, and had always insisted on the 
pictures being kept in the exact posi- 
tions in which the beloved hand had ar- 
ranged them, and required, both from her 
son and from Aunt Barbchen, repeated 
promises that they would guard the pa- 
vilion and its little collection of paint- 
ings from injury, as far as lay in their 
power. 

Lilli remembered this as she stood 
thoughtfully before the “ Orestes.” She 
could well imagine that the Hofrathin 
would heartily dislike the man who was 
endeavoring to force her to break a 
solemn promise. But perhaps if Aunt 
Barbchen would conquer her hatred to 
the other branch of the Dorns suffi- 
ciently to represent calmly to her neigh- 
bor wherefore she desired the preserva- 
tion of the pavilion, he might perhaps, 
in spite of his fierceness, be induced to 
forego his plans of destruction. This 
train of thought was suddenly broken in 
upon by a noise in Bluebeard’s garden. 
She heard several men walk up to the 
pavilion and halt before it. Through 
the slats of the shutters she perceived 
a workman in a leathern apron and with 
tools in his hands. Beside him stood 


the negro and another servant in livery. 
What were they going to do 

“ Now, you shall see,” said the work- 
man, laughing, to the others: “I’ll 
make a hole in the old nest quick 
enough. It sha’n’t have much longer to 
live. We’ll teach the old woman over 
yonder that Herr von Dorn is not to be 
trifled with.” 

At this moment the wall on which the 
“ Orestes ” hung trembled under a tre- 
mendous blow. Lilli tore down the 
painting, and drew the bench on which 
the family of dolls resided farther into 
the room. The stifling clouds of dust 
that arose at the same moment forced 
the young girl to fly to the door. But 
only for an instant did she hesitate : the 
paintings must be saved before the Van- 
dal outside continued his work- of de- 
struction. She was on the point of re- 
turning to the room when a voice was 
heard from afar : “ Stop ! stop ! that is 
enough !” 

It was the same voice that yesterday 
evening had ordered the negro back to 
the house — a deep, manly voice, and one 
evidently accustomed to command. It 
must be Bluebeard ! He apparently in- 
tended to oversee his work of ven- 
geance in person, for a quick, firm step 
approached the pavilion. Should she 
fly? No! She was deeply indignant 
at the violence of this man. He should 
feel that he was despised — that others 
had the courage to oppose his brutality 
and presumption. She stepped to the 
table that stood in the middle of the 
room, placed an empty box upon it, and 
began with great outward equanimity to 
pack the scattered playthings therein. 

“Jacques,” said the voice, now di- 
rectly behind the window shutters — and 
stern and imperious indeed did it sound 
— “ I gave orders that this window 
should first be opened, and that you 
should see there was nothing in the pa- 
vilion that might be injured. Why was 
this not done ?” 

“Ah, sir,” replied the mason, in place 
of the servant-man, who was hesitating 
for an answer, “ what could there be in 
there ? The old woman wouldn’t keep 
anything valuable in this lumber-room.” 


OVER YONDER. 


19 


There was no reply, but a man’s 
figure appeared in the opening in the 
wall, and he looked in. Involuntarily 
Lilli lifted her downcast lids. There 
they stood face to face — the terrible 
Bluebeard and the young lady, who at 
this important moment needed the whole 
of her not inconsiderable stock of pride 
and strength of will to enable her to 
keep up her self-imposed role of heroine. 
She called herself inwardly “a miserable 
coward,” because she could not repress 
the rebellious tide of blushes that surged 
over her face under that piercing gaze. 
She had only glanced up for one mo- 
ment, but nevertheless knew perfectly 
that yonder stood a tall, powerful figure, 
of elegant and graceful bearing ; and, 
moreover, that to this figure in the 
simple brown jacket belonged a remark- 
ably handsome, youthful head, with fea- 
tures sufficiently demonlike to justify his 
not very flattering sobriquet. He stood 
still for an instant, seeming petrified 
with surprise, and then leant into the 
room to examine the destruction caused 
by the mason. Without raising her 
eyes again, Lilli saw that he stamped his 
foot slightly. 

“ This is too bad !” he murmured, 
glancing back at the three men, who 
stood outside, looking very awkward and 
down in the mouth. “ I hope, however, 
that I have come in time to prevent 
greater injury,” he continued, with a 
slight bow to Lilli. 

No answer. He turned away and 
tossed the lighted cigar which he held 
between his fingers over on the grass- 
plat. The men withdrew silently. Lilli 
hoped he would follow their example, 
for nothing would have induced her to 
be the first to quit the field : that would 
have looked like flight ; but she was 
forced to confess to herself that she 
would love dearly to jump up and run 
away as quickly as possible. 

But there he stood again in the gap : 
he folded his arms and leaned against 
one of the bare beams with as much 
ease and assurance as though he were 
in a friendly territory, instead of on the 
threshold of the enemy’s country. 

Lilli felt that his eye rested fixedly 


upon her. She was almost in despair 
with impatience and embarrassment; but 
now it was doubly necessary to get out 
of her disagreeable position with calm- 
ness and dignity. She did not vouch- 
safe him another glance, but placed in 
the box a large doll, whose long blonde 
locks escaped from under a baby’s cap. 

“A charming little creature,” said he, 
suddenly breaking the painful silence. 
“ I should like so much to know if it 
can cry.” 

What irony lay in his voice ! He was 
trying to insult her by treating her as a 
child. Deeply hurt, she gave him a 
glance full of indignation. 

“Ah, good !” cried he, laughingly. “I 
only wanted to find out if you under- 
stood German. Of that I have no longer 
the slightest doubt, and so venture to 
hope that you will at least answer me 
one question : Will you forgive me that 
through my fault you have been dis- 
turbed and alarmed Y 

“ I am not so easily frightened — there- 
fore think any further reply unnecessary.” 

A kind of lightning-flash passed over 
his face, but he did not make the slight- 
est movement to quit his post. 

“ I am forced of necessity to declare 
myself satisfied,” said he, half laughingly. 
“ But tell me, do you think that when 
Moses heard the first sweet ripple of the 
silver stream which flowed from the rock 
at his touch, he remained satisfied with 
that one hearing ? I am in just that 
position, and prefer having a little more, 
even though some bitter drops accom- 
pany the sweet waters. I know that 
I have not the slightest claim upon your 
kindness, but nevertheless venture to 
propose a treaty of peace. Be like that 
good fairy that granted three wishes to 
the poor mortal, and answer me three 
questions.” 

She had need of all her self-command 
not to be infected by his good-natured 
manner. She felt like bursting into a 
laugh at the original proposition, but 
that she did not dare to do in the pres- 
ence of the malignant neighbor. He 
must be repelled and taught his position 
with gravity and coldness. She turner' 
her back to him, took down a picture 


20 


OVER YONDER. 


from the wall, and, endeavoring to brush 
off the dust from the frame, replied 
indifferently : 

“And what do you offer in return, 
should I consent to grant your request ?” 

“Well, perhaps — the expression of 
your face leaves no doubt as to what 
would please you — perhaps the promise 
that I will go then and leave you alone.” 

“ Good !” 

“ But the promise is only to remain in 
force for to-day, however.” 

“ I do not think there is any likeli- 
hood that we will ever meet again.” 

“ Will you not let that be my care ?” 

“ That is as you choose. I shall 
know how to prevent it.” 

Dorte was right : he was extremely 
quick-tempered. He flushed crimson 
and pressed his lips tightly together, as 
though to repress a storm of hasty 
words. Then striding back into the 
garden, he tore two roses from a bush 
near by, crushed them in his clenched 
hands, and then let them fall upon the 
ground. Lilli gazed at him frightened. 
She had wounded him deeply : how fool- 
ish of her ! A repentant feeling came 
suddenly over her for having replied so 
roughly ; but the man who had caused 
such trouble to Aunt Barbchen was 
surely undeserving of any consideration 
or forbearance. And, besides, even 
judging mildly, it was very thoughtless 
of him to endeavor to entrap her into 
a conversation — her who necessarily 
must espouse the cause of his harassed 
and insulted neighbor. By means of 
this reasoning she succeeded in regain- 
ing her former dignified bearing, and 
took another painting industriously from 
the wall, as if she had not the slightest 
idea that he was still standing outside. 
But he was not to be frightened off so 
easily. He seemed to have conquered 
his anger : at all events, the eye that 
met her quickly-withdrawn glance was 
no longer sparkling with indignation. 
He approached and examined the in- 
side of his strong but well-formed hand : 
a drop of blood was trickling over the 
white skin. 

“ There you see,” said he, drawing a 
thorn from the flesh, “though the worn- 


out proverb, ‘No rose without thorns,’ 
is no longer admitted even into copy- 
books, the moral application still holds 
good. But who would suppose” — his 
eye rested upon the assembly of dolls 
upon the table, and he smiled sarcastic- 
ally — “that, while the hands are so in- 
nocently and childishly employed, a hid- 
den sting could lurk behind the lips ? 
Perhaps )^ou are surprised that I should 
waste more words after your last decla- 
ration ; but the three questions were 
much too dearly bought for me to re- 
lease you so quickly. I will be reason- 
able in my demands. You have already 
answered me the first one : for number 
two, please tell me if you are related to 
Hofrathin Falk, and, consequently, to 
the Dorns ?” 

“ No.” 

“ Then why do you take up the family 
feud as zealously as though you were old 
Erich Dorn’s blood relation ?” 

She looked up in amazement. This 
barbarian seemed unconscious that he 
had committed an unpardonable rude- 
ness only a few moments before. 

Enough : he stretched forth his hands 
imploringly, as if to ward off the reply 
that was hovering on her lips. 

“ No, no ! don’t speak !” cried he 
hastily, but endeavoring to give a jesttng 
turn to his words. “ It was foolish of 
me to ask that question : I was like a 
child venturing on unsound ice. You 
were about to say that you did not in 
the least require the aid of the mouldy 
old traditions to see in me a horrible ex- 
ample of masculine arbitrariness and 
brutality — that here lie the proofs before 
your little feet, etc., etc. I live a kind 
of hermit’s life, and have until now never 
troubled myself about what went on on 
the other side of yonder hedge : there- 
fore I do not even know in what relation 
you stand to the house over there.” 

Lilli laughed inwardly at the slyness 
with which he was endeavoring to gain 
information about her affairs. 

“ Does that belong to your three 
questions ?” asked she, without looking 
up. 

“No! indeed no I I must be eco- 
nomical. But you would render a great 


OVER rONDER. 


21 


deal of my pleading unnecessary if you 
would tell me how long you have been 
at the Hofrathin’s ?” 

“Since yesterday afternoon.” 

“Ah, then I must beg that you will 
hear me for a few moments longer. I 
have become convinced, after long wan- 
derings through the world, that the best 
part of my life — that is, the part when 
the soul is in complete harmony with all 
its fellow-mortals, and consequently full 
of peace itself— had been the first six 
years of my existence. I came to this 
painful conclusion in consequence of 
numerous disappointments, and hoped in 
the land of my birth to find a spell, a 
treasure that would restore the happiness 
of my early years. So you can under- 
stand why I set out for Thuringia with- 
out further delay.” 

He had spoken lightly, but a slight 
trace of bitterness in his tone did not 
escape Lilli’s keen ear. 

“ I can understand that perfectly,” she 
replied; “but I understand how 

you expect to find your inward peace in 
embittering the existence of others.” 

“ That is a mysterious question to 
me, as well as to yourself — as mysterious 
as that these ‘others’ should base their 
happiness upon so frail a foundation.” 

He glanced scornfully, as he spoke, at 
the old walls of the pavilion, which, it 
must be confessed, were very weak and 
time-worn. 

‘‘ You see,” he continued in his former 
jesting tone, “ that I came here with the 
most peaceable intentions. I had for- 
gotten that the old lady over yonder — 
whom all the children in the town had 
already named ‘ Aunt Barbchen ’ — for 
me alone, of them all, had only stern, 
cold glances, which made me, a hot- 
blooded youngster, so furious that I 
used to throw stones in her plum trees. 
She has indeed held fast the family feud : 
her glance has not grown warmer since 
those days. Nevertheless,” continued 
-he, more gravely, “it was far from being 
my desire to treat her as an enemy. I 
determined to purchase her property, so 
as to be able to remove this miserable 
caricature of a pavilion from my new 
pleasure-ground unhindered ; not alone 


because my sense of beauty was pain- 
fully outraged thereby, but principally 
because a certain circumstance made it 
my duty not to suffer this outlook on 
my private property.” 

“ This ‘ certain circumstance ’ is no 
secret to us, however, respected Herr 
Bluebeard,” thought Lilli, and she al- 
lowed, for the first time, her large, dark 
eyes to rest full and firm upon his face. 
Had she forgotten the demonish en- 
chantments of that hero of the fairy-tale, 
which drew the maiden’s soul onward, 
onward within his reach ? But how 
should she remember it ? This danger 
lay so far. Though the handsome, manly 
features were inscrutable to her inex- 
perienced eye, yet the dark blue tint 
around the chin and lower part of the 
cheeks might have recalled the warning 
token of the fairy-tale. 

Ah, then, his conscience was not en- 
tirely blunted, for his piercing gaze had 
a singular effect : he w’as suddenly silent 
in the middle of his speech, and it seemed 
as if his eye dilated and flamed up. Was 
it the confusion of conscious guilt ? She 
could not tell, but there lay something in 
these circumstances that seemed to react 
chillingly on herself. 

“Ah, the solution ! the solution !” 
cried he, with an entirely altered voice : 
it almost sounded as though he were 
awakening from a dream and were talk- 
ing to himself. 

“Yes, the solution of the mystery 
was not so difficult : even old Dorte 
penetrated it,” thought Lilli, but in spite 
of this bold inward observation she cast 
down her eyes. He walked up and 
down once outside, and then resumed 
his former position. 

“ I am a bad advocate,” said he, smil- 
ing, and endeavoring to assume the light 
tone in which he had first spoken. “In 
the midst of my well-arranged speech I 
lose the thread of my argument. But I 
have suddenly made a strange discovery. 
Something lay like a dark prophecy in 
my soul, and that something has, with 
the quickness of lightning, all at once 
been realized.” " 

He passed his hand over his brow, as 
if to collect his thoughts, but Lilli pre- 


22 


OVER YONDER. 


pared to leave the pavilion. An inex- 
plicable dread came over her, his be- 
havior was so singular. And it also 
occurred to her that it was totally con- 
trary to custom and propriety for her to 
permit a longer interview with an entire 
stranger, and, moreover, one who was 
an acknowledged adversary of Aunt 
Barbchen. She had allowed the charm 
of his original manner to influence her ; 
that was foolish of her, and must be 
remedied as soon as possible. 

“ May I not finish my defence ?” 
asked he, imploringly, as she approached 
the door. 

“ I can tell you the conclusion my-, 
self,” said she, half averting her face. 
“You went to law about it; you got 
judgment against the Hofrathin Falk ; 
and because your unreasonable wish was 
not at once carried out, you became 
angry, had this breach made in the wall, 
and now doubtless are awaiting the effect 
of these violent measures.” 

“ Unreasonable, angry, violent !” re- 
peated he, with mocking pathos, but the 
expression of deep chagrin in his face 
and voice was not to be mistaken. “A 
few more touches, and the portrait of a 
tyrant is complete. But, in spite of all 
this weight of wickedness, I can assure 
you that I am a friend of truth, and 
therefore will not disguise from you that 
I was angry. The old lady provoked 
me bitterly. Several days have already 
passed since the expiration of the ap- 
pointed eight days, but perhaps I would 
not yet a while have resorted to these 
measures had not fright and excitement 
been caused yesterday among my people 
by nocturnal apparitions at this window.” 

And so her unpardonable folly had 
been the immediate cause of to-day\s 
catastrophe ! This discovery troubled 
the young girl extremely. The fault 
was irreparable, but she could at least 
make some atonement by freely ac- 
knowledging that she was the guilty one. 
She had just opened her lips to reply 
when the deep but far-sounding voice 
of the Hofrathin was heard calling her 
name from the house. Why was it that 
the thought suddenly became intensely 
painful to the young girl that Aunt 


Barbchen might meet her adversary here 
and express all her anger and resent- 
ment undauntedly She hurried, there- 
fore, with a slight bow, out of the door, 
and really found that the Hofrathin was 
on the point of coming to the pavilion 
to look for her. 

Rapidly and with suppressed voice 
she recounted what had happened. 
Aunt Barbchen’s strong, dark coloring 
paled somewhat, but she remained out- 
wardly calm, and called to old Sauer : 

“ Bring the pictures out from the pa- 
vilion, but take them down very carefully 
from the nails. They can be taken into 
the green room for the present, until I 
have decided where they had better be 
hung. I can’t see them now : don’t let 
me see them, Sauer. It is so dreadful 
to me that they should be turned out 
of their old place, and I cannot prevent 
it.” 

Lilli followed the Hofrathin to the 
sitting-room, put her arms around her 
neck and acknowledged her fault. Her 
eyes were buried in Aunt Barbchen’s 
huge tulle ruff, and therefore the sup- 
pressed smile escaped her which, at the 
beginning of her confession, flew around 
the corners of the Hofrathin’s mouth. 

“ Be ashamed, Lilli,” said she, when 
the maiden had finished her self-accusa- 
tion. “ You come here from the great 
city; you behave like a grown lady with 
your crinoline and your trains, which 
sail off the sand from the floors and 
steps, much to poor Dorte’s vexation ; 
you’ve learned English and French, and 
stuck your nose into chemistry and other 
high-learned things ; and yet you remain 
so childish that before long I shall have 
to hang the school-rules up again, yonder 
beside the clock. For the rest — you 
don’t deserve it, but I will give you a 
piece of comfort — the charming gentle- 
man over yonder would have carried out 
his heroic intentions to-day without your 
assistance. I expected nothing else. I 
knew he was aching to get at the poor 
old house.” 

“ I dont think so, Aunt Biirbchen,” 
replied Lilli, raising her head quickly. 
“ He did not in the least impress me as 
a malignant person. I am perfectly cer- 


OVER YONDER. 


23 


tain that if you had represented to him 
calmly — ” 

“ So the egg wants to be wiser than 
the hen,” scolded the Hofrathin, now 
really angry. “ ‘ Represent calmly !’ I 
— one of the Erichs — to those over yon- 
der ! My grandmother would rather 
have fired the pavilion with her own 
hand than have wasted a good word on 
the Huberts about it. Never come to 
me again, Lilli, with such expressions. 
I’ve grown old in the knowledge that 
the Huberts have cast a blot upon our 
line, and the pain and anger it has caused 
me I take with me to the grave. Listen 
to me, child : I don’t want to hear an- 
other word about him over yonder — not 
even his name — whether in jest or in 
earnest. And one thing more, Lilli : 
when I have closed my eyes on this 
world, then you are mistress here, and 
all that has belonged to the Erichs from 
time immemorial will be yours. But if 
I thought for an instant that after my 
death any of my former property, if it 
were only an inch of the garden, would 
come into the hands of those over yon- 
der, I would rather give house and 
grounds for a poor hospital for ever. 
There ! you have my unalterable deter- 
mination ; and in conclusion I must say 
that I highly disapprove of your conduct 
of to-day. How could you permit your- 
self to engage in a conversation with a 
perfectly strange man, and moreover 
with a man who — Have you forgotten 
what Dorte said yesterday about him ? 
Such a person is not worthy that a wo- 
man of reputation should address a word 
to him, for he thinks habitually ill of 
women, and considers them all of the 
same description.” 

A deep glow rose over Lilli’s white 
face up to the dark, gracefully-rippling 
hair-waves ; but she threw back her 
head, and her mouth assumed the proud 
expression which often gave to the gentle, 
childish face a look of intellectual supe- 
riority and maturity. All that she had 
said to Herr von Dorn passed quickly 
in review before her mind’s eye. The 
rule of behavior which her English gov- 
erness had again and again repeated to 
her — which forbade any conversation 


with a gentleman not formally presented 
— had indeed occurred rather late to her 
mind : at the same time, had she not, 
by her replies, kept him within the 
limits of complete indifference as fully 
and decidedly as if she had only turned 
her back silently on him ? The thought 
of how rough and unamiable she had 
been, which a few moments before had 
given her pain, now became a real com- 
fort. The handsome figure of Blue- 
beard, which had impressed her against 
her will, was no longer before her, and 
the warning and observation of the ex- 
perienced Hofrathin had so much the 
greater influence. She made a firm re- 
solve that she would not approach the 
pavilion again as long as no solid di- 
viding wall was erected between here 
and “over yonder:” she would show 
Bluebeard that she did avoid that meet- 
ing with him, and he would soon see 
that she was not to be classed as one 
of the aforesaid “description.” 

Not a word more passed between the 
Hofrathin and the girl about these oc- 
currences. The pictures and furniture 
were moved quietly from the pavilion to 
the “green parlor,” and Lilli arranged 
a corner in her little room for the ac- 
commodation of the dolls. In the even- 
ing an old friend of Aunt Barbchen’s 
came to see her and remained to tea, 
which was drunk in the breakfast-arbor. 
And as the night gathered the two old 
ladies sat there and talked together of 
days long passed, of dreams and disap- 
pointments, of hopes and resignations. 
Lilli sat in a low garden-chair, with her 
hands clasped around her knees, gazing 
out into the deepening twilight, a 
touched and attentive listener as one 
faded picture rose upon another. 

Her wandering eye was suddenly 
chained by a white object which seemed 
to detach itself, as it were, from a faintly 
gleaming rocket bush, and slowly moved 
forward. She soon recognized the little 
night-wanderer : a white hen had es- 
caped from the poultry-house, and was 
walking about in the most complete 
tranquillity over the cucumber bed, paus- 
ing here and there to scratch in the 
loose earth. Fortunately for Dorte, who 


24 


OVER YONDER, 


had charge of the poultry, the Hofrathin 
did not observe the scraping delinquent. 
Lilli rose quietly and unobserved, to ward 
off, if possible, the threatening storm 
from the head of the neglectful old cook ; 
but the creature, at her approach, ran 
over the beds as if possessed, vanished 
in bushes and hedges, only to emerge in 
a few moments, like a mocking Kobold, 
in the most distant corner of the garden. 
All efforts to drive the hen toward the 
house were useless : suddenly she rose, 
and, flying heavily for a short distance, 
seated herself on the roof of the pa- 
vilion. Calls and coaxing were of no 
avail. She crouched down, and in the 
most provoking security turned her head 
gravely first to one side, then to the 
other. Her white plumage shone mys- 
teriously over the dark entrance. The 
inside of the old house was dismally 
gloomy : only through the hole in the 
wall stole in the doubtful twilight. The 
young girl stood once more in the door- 
way. Dim and ghostly lay the white 


house “ over yonder ” — an indistinct 
picture, framed by the jagged outlines 
of the ruined wall. The tower pointed, 
like a giant finger, threateningly in the 
air. The fountains plashed on cease- 
lessly, it is true, but they stood yonder 
like motionless, shining pillars : their 
graceful veils of mist and million down- 
falling water-pearls were absorbed by 
the gloom of the evening. In the house 
all seemed dead — nowhere even a lighted 
window or an open door. Perhaps the 
master had gone with his domestics to 
his estate of Liebenberg, and had there 
placed his jealously-guarded treasure to 
protect her from further alarm. But at 
this moment a door was opened — the 
door from which the negro had come 
the evening before : a broad stream of 
light gushed from the brightly-illumined 
hall, and spread over the orange trees, 
the stone steps and a portion of the 
grass-plat. With a beating heart Lilli saw 
the Unknown appear on the threshold. 




OVER YONDER, 


25 


CHAPTER VII. 

T he noble figure of the lady was de- 
fined like a silhouette on the bril- 
liant background. Lilli saw from the 
sharply-traced outlines that a superb 
coronet of hair must adorn her head : 
bright prismatic rays quivered and shone 
around it. The black veil which still 
flowed around the apparition must be 
fastened to the hair with jeweled pins. 

Lilli saw, too, that the lady was still 
very young : her movements were of a 
maidenly softness and grace ; but to-day, 
even more than yesterday, a certain las- 
situde was noticeable as she walked 
slowly down the steps. In vain did the 
maiden endeavor to trace the features : 
the dark covering fell in thick folds over 
her face and bosom. Involuntarily, Lilli 
shrank back at this moment : like an 
electric shock a feeling of terror vibrated 
through her frame and drove the blood 
to her throbbing temples. 

How foolish ! What had she to fear 
from the man who stepped yonder in the 
doorway .? Came he not even now as 
an avenger and destroyer ? His whole 
attention seemed concentrated on the 
young lady. With those firm, decided 
movements which had struck Lilli so 
forcibly in the morning, he crossed the 
terrace and met the Unknown at the 
foot of the steps. He spoke to her. 
Those were the full, sympathetic tones 
which had so captivated Lilli’s ears that 
she had entered the lists with Aunt 
Barbchen in defence of his character. 
She could not understand what he said ; 
only heard him pronounce the name 
« Beatrice ” with infinite softness. He 
tendered his hand, but she drew hers 
hastily back, and, shaking her head, said 
a few words in low, flute-like tones, 
which seemed choked with tears. 

How exactly did Lilli already know 
the modulations of his voice ! Without 
understanding what he replied, without 
his making any outward expression of 


his feelings, she perceived at once that 
he became angry. He stepped nearer 
to the lady and raised his arm : would 
he embrace her ? 

Once more the electric shock seemed 
to flash through Lilli’s frame, but this 
time it was a quick stab that hurt her. 
Her cheeks burned : she was ashamed 
of herself for lingering here, and was 
about to leave the spot ; but what she 
saw at this moment chained her feet to 
the threshold. At the approach of Blue- 
beard the lady shrank back and fled with 
trembling steps, as if she shuddered at 
his touch. 

She abhorred him : that was evident. 
Was he indeed a criminal, and did she 
know of his guilt ? Or were his atten- 
tions unpleasant to her, and did he nev- 
ertheless require a return of his affec- 
tion ? Why Lilli gave little place to 
this last possibility she could hardly 
have told ; and she had no more time to 
observe, reflect and conjecture, for a 
loud noise arose in Aunt Barbchen’s 
garden. 

The hen had imprudently quitted her 
high position, and had evidently come 
within Aunt Barbchen’s range of vision, 
for both the old ladies, Sauer and poor 
Dorte — who was wringing her hands 
despairingly — had joined in a regular 
chase ; arui just as Lilli reached them the 
frightened creature rushed into the hen- 
house, the door of which was hastily 
closed behind her. 

Dorte did not escape her fate. She 
received a deserved rebuke as the finale 
of this unfortunate day, which had begun 
with a quarrel with Sauer over the ap- 
pearance of the devil ; but this punish- 
ment could not restore the cozy inter- 
change of thought between the two old 
friends, which had been completely de- 
stroyed, for such irregularities in her 
exemplary household easily disturbed 
Aunt Barbchen’s equilibrium : they did 
not return to the arbor, and the visitor 


26 


OVER YONDER. 


soon took her departure. Half an hour 
later the house of the Hofrathin lay in 
the deepest silence ; but though closely- 
barred doors and windows opposed the 
entrance of any strange intruder, they 
could not prevent the melodies from the 
tower chamber stealing through the 
crevices, and filling with transporting 
music Lilli’s little room. 

They were different sounds from those 
of yesterday. They would soar sudden- 
ly in wild triumph, bearing the soul of 
the listener on their wings : then wander 
again, wailing through the strings ; but 
in every note glow'ed and trembled pas- 
sion. Lilli opened the window and 
pressed her hot brow against the shut- 
ters. She felt again and again the great, 
glowing eyes of Bluebeard resting upon 
her ; and in the midst of the strangely- 
whispering and wildly-gushing melodies 
she seemed to hear his voice in that 
strange mingling of jest and bitterness 
with which he had spoken of his van- 
ished peace. 

It was well for Lilli’s strangely-ex- 
cited state of mind, which she herself 
could scarcely understand, that days of 
diversion and amusement followed. Vis- 
its from Aunt Barbchen’s very extended 
circle of acquaintance, and visits in re- 
turn, occupied nearly the entire day, to- 
gether with excursions in the neighbor- 
hood. The frequent absences from home, 
the meeting with friends of her own age, 
and the revisiting of spots formerly so 
dear to her, all these awakened gradually 
the impressions of the first days, and 
restored to her, at least partially, her 
former peace of mind. That came about 
so much the easier as she was not often 
reminded of her neighbors. The Hof- 
rathin held fixedly to her decision, that 
with her permission not a stone of the 
pavilion should be moved, but never 
visited that portion of the garden, and 
never said a syllable about the matter. 
She designed permitting the enemy to 
continue his work of destruction as far 
as he had the legal right to do so, and 
then to support the rest of the old house 
by a new back wall, and thus to satisfy 
her sense of duty to the wishes of her 
grandmother. But old Sauer, who looked 


about now and then in the old house, 
informed Lilli privately that the hole in 
the wall grew no larger : he could not 
imagine what the end of all would be ; 
and moreover it looked to him as though 
some one must come through that open- 
ing very often, for the rubbish on the 
floor was all crushed to dust, and he al- 
ways found fresh marks of lime and 
plaster on the gravel walk outside, which 
must have been made by feet that had 
passed through the pavilion. 

The tower looked over, the same as 
ever, into the garden, but behind the four 
windows, which had formerly made it 
completely transparent, suddenly ap- 
peared thick, heavy silk curtains. Many 
a time, when the windows were open, 
would Lilli see from the breakfast-arbor 
that those damask folds moved gently : 
it seemed, too, as though there were a 
dark, narrow rift in the middle ; and the 
young girl thought of the curtained win- 
dows in the East through which the eyes 
of the odalisques sparkle, and saw in 
imagination those two graceful hands 
“that looked as if made of wax,” and 
the rings that “sparkled like real car- 
buncles,” moving the rustling silk and 
carefully parting the protecting curtains. 

She imagined that the Unknown now 
occupied the tower : the violoncello she 
had not heard again. Strange ! It al- 
most seemed as though the gentle mel- 
ody shunned the loud bustle of human 
intercourse. 

Since Lilli’s visits in the town almost 
every evening brought a host of young 
ladies who drank tea at Aunt Barbchen’s. 
Then, as it grew dusky, the lamp was 
lighted in the breakfast-arbor and they 
remained together, entirely against the 
Hofrathin’s usual rules, until nearly 
eleven o’clock. In these circles the 
neighbor’s name was never mentioned, 
out of respect to the Hofrathin’s wishes ; 
only occasionally, perhaps, one of the 
young ladies would ask, in a whisper, if 
Lilli had not yet seen the much-decried 
hermit — a question which she always 
managed skillfully to parry. But these 
queries conjured up his image before 
her, and although many reasons for con- 
sidering him guilty would obtrude them- 


OVER YONDER. 


27 


selves upon her, yet each time a secret 
pang quivered through her heart, and 
she had to struggle with a sort of 
painful indignation when strange lips 
spoke his name contemptuously. 

But, very rightly, she did not search 
deeply into these new, strange feelings ; 
and no one who had seen how, with the 
enjoyment of a child, she sank her little 
feet in the tall grass in the garden or 
ran races up the mountain, would have 
suspected that deep in her soul lay a 
secret something, but so deep, deep 
down that not even her eyes ever re- 
flected it to the world. 

A considerable portion of the beech 
wood which began behind the house, 
covering the mountain, that at this point 
began to grow quite steep, belonged to 
Aunt Barbchen’s property. Sauer had, 
by the unspeakable labor of years, suc- 
ceeded in making a winding path through 
the thick-growing underbrush, and this 
path had become his hobby. The Hof- 
rathin asserted that he had carried up 
gradually in his coat pockets the quan- 
tity of large, beautifully-rounded pebbles 
which covered the walk. It led far up 
in the mountain, under a beautiful beech, 
by whose trunk stood a bench made of 
branches nailed together. This joint 
effort of his labor and perseverance 
Sauer always called, with indescribable 
pathos, “ the pleasure grounds.” His 
smiling face was only brought back with 
difficulty into its usual dignified expres- 
sion when he saw that the young ladies 
would hasten, » only just once more,” up 
the mountain in his pathway before tea, 
to breathe the fresh mountain air and to 
send forth their glad shouts in the wide 
world. 

One Sunday morning Lilli stepped out 
of the door which led to the wood. She 
had not yet been up the mountain alone, 
and had felt this unpleasantly every time ; 
for the often very thoughtless chattering 
and loud laughter of her youthful com- 
panions disturbed painfully the solemn 
silence, the mystic charm of the forest. 
To-day she longed to be up there while 
the church- bells were sounding through 
the town below ; and consequently she 
had released herself from the usually 


incumbent duty of accompanying Aunt 
Barbchen to church. 

As she closed the door behind her .she 
glanced involuntarily at the tower. The 
curtains were in violent motion : evi- 
dently some one had drawn quickly back 
from the open window as she looked up 
— most probably the poor prisoner, whose 
eyes perhaps followed the young girl 
enviously as, light and free of foot, she 
walked up the mountain. Lilli was soon 
seated on the bench. The superb beech 
stood like a prominent pillar, somewhat 
isolated and beyond the wood. Short, 
dry grass covered the mountain, which 
just here was very steep ; but the por- 
tion at Lilli’s feet looked like a low step, 
covered with a somewhat faded carpet, 
so delusively did the blooming elevation 
in the valley below seem to join to its 
extreme line. The sunlight, though it 
shed a golden glory over the unclouded 
heaven, the mighty mountain ridges and 
the meadow lands below, full of waving 
grain, had as yet but little power over 
the dewy freshness of the morning. 
Below, the roofs of the town still lay in 
shadow and in Sunday quiet ; but doubt- 
less the brown invigorating morning 
drink was bubbling on the hearth, for 
the smoke was floating in single, light 
clouds from the chimneys. It vanished 
at once, as though blinded and fright- 
ened, in the clear, sunlit air, or fled, 
driven by a gentle breath of wind, in 
thin, transparent flakes, toward the 
dark old church tower ; but there too 
rested the glory of the sunlight upon 
the dark slate roof. A venturesome 
ray had reached the tower and slipped 
down into the belfry ; and, as though 
the thousand-years Egyptian wonder 
of the awakening of sound was here 
to be renewed, at this instant the first 
peal of the bell soared forth into the 
air. Daws and jays flew terrified from 
the tower roof : for a moment they cir- 
cled above the town, and then rustled 
past Lilli’s feet, far, far away, where they 
sank like sunny points down into the 
meadows. Lilli had followed their flight, 
but now her gaze returned dazzled, and 
rested on the objects around her. 

Beside the bench lay a huge rock, 


28 


OVER YONDER, 


possibly torn years before, by the melt- 
ing snow, from the summit of the moun- 
tain. It had evidently considered it 
advisable in its isolated, exposed posi- 
tion to envelop itself in a thick, warm 
covering of moss. Blackberry vines 
clambered over its back ; and then at its 
base, where the sun could not fully reach, 
a patch of fresh green grass appeared, 
amongst which several graceful wood 
flowers were nodding. The moss cover- 
ing swarmed with beetles and other little 
insects, which seemed to know very little 
of the Sabbath rest, and were rolling 
about industriously under the mighty 
shadow of the blackberry leaves. 

Lilli bent down and observed, amused 
and thoughtful, this little world so full 
of important cares and occupations. 
She did not hear that the bushes behind 
her were rustling and crackling as if 
parted by a strong arm, and the soft 
wood-earth muffled the footsteps which 
were rapidly approaching her. 

“ Don’t look for Runic characters : the 
old Germans laid spells upon them, and 
they might work injuriously on you,” 
suddenly said the voice of Bluebeard, 
behind her, in a jesting tone. Had the 
earth opened at this moment to permit 
the exit of subterranean beings, Lilli 
would scarcely have been more excited 
than she was by the unexpected proxim- 
ity of this man ; but, in spite of the ter- 
ror which took possession of her, she 
remained for a moment motionless. 

“ I acknowledge,” continued he — and 
the weak arm of the bench trembled 
under his hand — “that stones can speak ; 
b at is that any reason why the ear should 
be closed to a pleading human voice ?” 

And of what expression was this same 
human voice capable ! Lilli had not yet 
turned her head toward him, but she did 
not doubt that, while his lips were striv- 
ing to jest, a glance of mingled anger and 
gentleness was resting upon her. But it 
was now necessary to ward off this name- 
less enchantment at once and for ever. 
Aunt Barbchen’s warning and her own 
resolutions stood suddenly in giant cha- 
racters before her : she rose, and, with- 
out replying, was about to step past him 
with a slight bow. Without intending to 


do so, she glanced up quickly at him. 
He was standing there, his hand still 
resting on the arm of the bench, with a 
grave but frank expression on his hand- 
some face: he did not make the slightest 
movement to detain the young girl, but 
suddenly his whole bearing became so 
proud and dignified that involuntarily she 
checked her footsteps, and her eyes sank 
under his piercing gaze, which rested 
rather reproachfully than indignantly 
upon her, as he said, endeavoring to 
steady his voice : 

“ I did not appeal to our universal 
ceremonial forms, which, truly German, 
ape foreign grimaces industriously : I 
say I did not appeal to them, but to the 
courtliness of the heart, when I ventured 
once more to address you. I would rest 
contented, only bewailing a new error in 
my life, did I not know too much of your 
character. But I know that even the 
old beggar who comes every week to re- 
ceive alms from Hofrathin Falk — I know 
that even he has a hearing from you — 
that you reply with an amiable smile to 
all his childish questions, listen with in- 
exhaustible patience to his complaints, 
and strive to comfort him. I know that 
you have the rare gift of being an atten- 
tive and agreeable listener when the old 
friends of your aunt are speaking, and 
yet know how to reply with spirit when 
you are drawn into the conversation. I 
know, moreover, that you tease those 
around you with merry petulance, and 
that you laugh as sweetly and gayly as 
a child that has no room as yet in its 
heart for hatred and such unhappy things. 
I know — But wherefore multiply evi- 
dence 'i Suffice it to say that you en- 
deavor, before me, to belie your natural 
character. I still indulge in the happy 
delusion — in short I am vain enough to 
believe — that this unfriendliness has its 
sole cause in the unhappy disunion be- 
tween the Dorn families. I saw you 
going up the mountain, and followed in 
order to remind you that I have the 
right to ask still one more question. 
Let me change it into a request : Be the 
mediator between Hofrathin Falk and 
myself, and bring about the reconciliation 
which I so unaffectedly desire.” . , : 




.. -) • 


OVER YONDER. 


29 


He had spoken in a very earnest, 
forcible way, and it appeared to Lilli as 
though to-day, for the first time in her 
life, she had been deservedly scolded, 
and that in a very confusing manner. 
But who was he who undertook to call 
her to account for her conduct ? His 
words had at once frightened and vexed 
her. How did he know all that ? Had 
he undertaken to make inquiries about 
her ? And now he actually depended 
upon this dishonorable system of espion- 
age, and was bold enough to appeal to 
the humane feelings of which he had, by 
these unworthy means, become aware. 
Aunt Barbchen’s admonition came once 
more to her mind, and the form of the 
mysterious Unknown floated warningly 
before her. She threw back her head, 
with that fascinating expression which 
defiance and perverseness traced in every 
feature, and thus prudently avoided look- 
ing in the face of the officious “ professor 
of morals so the delighted smile 
escaped her which for a moment played 
around his lips. To show him that she 
attached little importance to his mag- 
nanimous commission, she willfully as- 
sumed a light manner, and it gave her 
the greatest satisfaction to find that, in 
spite of those piercing eyes, she suc- 
ceeded charmingly in mingling a touch 
of irony with her reply : 

“ For this mission a courageous heart 
is necessary. In addition to all the re- 
markable and varied knowledge which 
you have just displayed, you must be 
informed that I am not the least bit 
brave, and have a perfect horror of ask- 
ing favors which I know will be refused. 
It is very impolite of me to reject your 
appeal to my ‘politeness of heart’ I 
am perfectly aware of that fact, but I 
also am perfectly aware that I dare not 
mention even your name before Aunt 
Barbchen, much less petitions to forgive 
and forget” 

“ Who spoke of forgiveness or peti- 
tions ? How hard and wounding that 
sounds !” interrupted he, roughly, and 
blazing up suddenly. But with the same 
effort of self-command that he had made 
in his first meeting with her, did he 
strive to master his excitement After 


striding quickly up and down a few times, 
he stood with folded arms before the 
young lady. 

“ They call you Lilli,” said he, thought- 
fully. “ Even the hard, heavy voice of 
Hofrathin Falk sounds to me more sym- 
pathetic when it expresses those two 
soft, sweet syllables. When one sees 
the being that answers to that call, they 
might think of a lovely flower sent for 
the joy and delight of mankind. Ycu 
evidently, do not like such poetic illi 
sions, for you treat everything that 
say to you perversely, in order to de- 
prive me of them ; or is it that you know 
that in this very perverseness, this con- 
trast between the childish, graceful ex- 
terior and the willful, defiant manner, 
lies the danger to others ? And yet — 
no, no !” He interrupted himself, in a 
peculiarly remorseful tone, as though re- 
tracting a cruel suspicion. Lilli had not 
at all understood his last words : quick 
and penetrating as her perceptions were, 
here, where experience had to be the 
guide of understanding, they were utter- 
ly at fault. Her thoughts were too pure 
and guileless ; and therefore she did not 
for an instant suspect that in his irrita- 
tion he had allowed himself to be be- 
trayed into accusing her of coquetry. 
He had turned away and was silent for 
a moment. 

“ And so my name is formally out- 
lawed and disgraced down yonder ?” 
asked he at last, bitterly, pointing to the 
Hofrathin’s house. “ The old lady 
should remember that we are of the same 
race — that the name which I bear she 
once bore.” 

“You forget that even this tie no 
longer exists : you are of the nobility.” 

At this reproach of the maiden, which 
sounded somewhat harsh and severe, he 
turned his head in surprise and looked 
at her keenly ; but immediately there 
appeared on his face that haughty, sar- 
castic smile which always called forth in 
Lilli’s heart a mixture of shame and 
indignation. 

“ Hofrathin Falk has given me little 
opportunity, as yet, to form a good 
opinion of her,” said he ; “ but in spite 
of that I think, and to her honor I say 


30 


OVER rONDER, 


it, that I believe she estimates nobility 
of character no less highly than I do ; 
and that is the only nobility I desire to 
possess. It is true that there are people 
who insist obstinately on believing that 
they offend me if they neglect to insert 
that harmless little word von between 
my baptismal and family names ; but it 
never occurs to me to make use of it, and 
thus to proclaim to the world a mo- 
mentary weakness of my late father.” 

He paused, and looked, still smilingly, 
down at Lilli, who, completely taken 
aback by this explanation, cast down her 
eyes in perplexity. 

« So this tie is not broken, and I hold 
to it so much the more closely because 
I hope that it may serve to guide me to 
an object which it is my desire to attain 
at all costs. We agree perfectly — dis- 
agreeable as the idea of any agreement 
between us may be to you — as regards 
the asking of favors ; but in the matter 
of courage — ” 

“ You ought to be brave enough, at all 
events, to enforce the fulfillment of your 
wishes : you were once a soldier.” 

<‘Ah, you know more about me than I 
ventured to hope. But why,” continued 
he, sadly, “did you remind me of my 
soldier days } and in such a mocking 
tone, too ? Nothing is more dishearten- 
ing than when one has battled in the 
cause of a pure, lofty principle to see at 
last the blood-bought victory involved 
and buried in a mass of selfish purposes 
and calculations. But I return to the 
subject. You are perfectly correct in 
your opinion that I can be persevering, 
and, when occasion demands, very arbi- 
trary, in my pursuit of an object ; but 
here forcible measures would give the 
death-blow to my hopes. Therefore, be- 
fore I attempt to enter the house of the 
Hofrathin Falk without her permission, 
and, in spite of the freezing aspect of my 
enemy, personally venture a visit of re- 
conciliation, I must first learn what you 
would think of such a step.” 

Lilli felt her heart tremble at the mere 
idea. She knew Aunt Barbchen well 
enough to be convinced that she never 
would offer the hand of forgiveness to 
him “over yonder.” She might possi- 


bly pardon her so-called “ deadly enemy” 
for the destruction of the pavilion, but 
never for being a descendant of Hubert 
Dorn. Anxious though the Hofrathin 
was to be perfectly just to every one, yet 
there was this one spot in her heart 
which seemed hopelessly petrified in its 
isolation and inaccessibility: every con- 
cession to the Hubert line she considered 
a deadly insult to the memory of her ar- 
cestors. What a scene, then, would be 
the consequence should the hated neigh* 
bor appear in her house uninvited ! Un- 
speakable pity and deep anxiety came 
over the maiden as she figured to her- 
self the rough, rude way in which the 
Hofrathin would doubtless repel the in- 
vasion. But she felt instinctively that 
she must not allow this strange sympathy 
to be seen if she did not wish to confirm 
him in his design ; and therefore she re- 
plied, as calmly and with as much self- 
command as possible — 

“ I have already told you what the 
Hofrathin thinks of you. From that you 
can easily judge what kind of a reception 
you would be likely to meet with. This 
step would be, under existing circum- 
stances, to say the least, unadvisable ; 
and 1 would the less readily pardon it as 
it would necessarily be the cause of 
much painful emotion to my aunt.” 

“ This gentleness and anxious consid- 
eration would be very touching if they 
were not so very — one-sided,” said he, 
with biting sharpness. “ But to spare 
your aunt’s peace of mind a momentary 
disturbance, you are willing to plunge 
other unhappy human beings into misery 
and despair. When I say to you that a 
passionate longing draws me to yonder 
old house, that an irresistible power 
would have driven me long ago, forget- 
ting all discretion, over its threshold, had 
it not been for — yes, had it not been fi i 
two eyes which look so coldly on me at 
the slightest attempt to approach them, 
and did I not know so well, and to my 
despair, that fatal turn of the head which 
so decidedly and hopelessly declares, 
‘ Stand back ! I have nothing to do with 
you !’ — you see that the boldness and 
assurance of the soldier — attributes to 
which you referred a while ago in such a 


OVER YONDER. 


31 


pointed manner — do not in all cases come 
to his rescue in a dilemma.” 

While speaking he had been walking 
quickly up and down. His hands were 
clasped behind his back, and Lilli remark- 
ed that his fingers were in constant, almost 
convulsive, motion. Through what de- 
grees of passion did his voice pass as he 
spoke ! And this mixture of reproach, 
anger, and, through all, the suffering that 
would break forth, he ever strove to con- 
ceal beneath a sort of wild humor — a 
completely vain effort which made all he 
said appear only the more bitter. Lilli 
gradually became greatly excited. There 
lay something wondrously enchaining in 
the figure which strode up and down be- 
fore her, driven by inward emotion ; but 
the warnings of Aunt Barbchen still rang 
low and faint in her ears, and at the mo- 
ment when conciliating words had risen 
to her lips her eye fell on a glittering 
object that shone through the trees be- 
low her ; it was the tower window. 

The thought of those weeping eyes 
behind the silken curtains drove like the 
blow of a dagger through her swelling 
heart, and gave her instantly the strength 
and presence of mind to retain the out- 
ward semblance of complete indifference 
and calmness. 

“You of course consider the Hofra- 
thin’s hardness and inflexibility entirely 
justifiable ?” said he, suddenly stopping 
before the maiden. 

“ I certainly do not blame her for op- 
posing an intercourse which would be 
disagreeable to her.” 

“And you would behave in the same 
manner, even though in so doing you 
gave the death-wound to a human heart? 
Where is your Christian love ?” 

“ I think one ought to retain a little 
freedom of will.” 

“And to carry out this principle you 
leave me to my fate ?” 

“ I can do nothing for you.” 

“ Is that your final answer ? 

“ My final answer !” she called back, 
for she had already hastened several steps 
down the mountain. Below, amongst 
the bushes, rose Sauer’s gray head. 
The old man was coming to announce 
that a young friend of Lilli’s was waiting 


in the parlor to see her. She followed 
him with a deep-drawn breath, but had 
not the courage to cast another glance 
up to the summit whence her last words 
were echoing like a knell. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

The next morning Lilli sat by Aunt 
Barbchen in the breakfast-arbor. The 
young girl had her lap full of myrtle 
twigs, which gradually formed them- 
selves, under her hands, into a bridal 
crown. The wedding of one of her 
friends was to take place in the after- 
noon, and Lilli, as bridesmaid, had un- 
dertaken the arrangement of the wreath. 
Pale and weary was the face bending 
over the garland so full of promise, and 
in whose tender leaves most girlish eyes 
see endless prophecies of future happi- 
ness. Lilli had gone through yesterday 
and the whole sleepless night as thou;.h 
in a dream that pursues us remorseless- 
ly through a labyrinth of martyrizing 
thoughts and images, and which we 
shake off joyfully when the sweet morn- 
ing light leads us back to comforting 
reality. But here there had been no 
awakening. The life and bustle of the 
day sounded into the quiet garden, and 
a pure sunbeam, straying through the 
foliage of the arbor, fell upon the brow 
of the young girl. What a crowd of 
conflicting sentiments had the meeting 
with Bluebeard called forth A her 
breast ! Much as she struggled, and 
deeply as she condemned herself and 
her own weakness and want of character, 
yet a feeling of inexpressible compassion 
for him would not be repressed. She 
considered it unworthy of her to give 
room for a moment to the image of a 
man whose house enclosed such an 
equivocal secret ; and yet she ever felt 
his sad, dark eye upon her, and her 
memory repeated with painful exactness 
all that he had said ; but it had all been 
noble and far from commonplace, and 
never could have proceeded from a 
vicious heart. 

She was ashamed of herself before 
her aunt, and— strange !— nevertheless 


32 


OVER YONDER, 


there arose in her heart a feeling, never 
before experienced, of bitterness toward 
her mother-like friend. There were mo- 
ments in which she accused the old 
woman of blind hatred, which had led 
her, too, to such rude, repellant answers 
— answers which seemed to burn into 
her brain. At times it almost appeared 
as though some bad angel must have 
suggested them. 

But when she suddenly thought of 
that evening on which slie had seen 
Bluebeard and the Unknown together, 
a feeling of indignation came again over 
her, and she recalled every harsh word 
once more and with indescribable satis- 
faction, hoping that she had made suffi- 
ciently comprehensible her maiden pride 
and coldness. 

Who can follow the varying emotions 
of a girlish heart which perceives, beside 
the sudden sunshine of a wondrous 
happiness, the inexorable shadow of 
complete hopelessness ? 

The Hofrathin had some time before 
taken off her spectacles and laid them 
upon the open book before her. Her 
eyes rested a while, with a surprised, 
inquiring gaze, on the face of the maiden, 
who was completely lost in troubled 
thought. 

“ Why, child,” said she at last, break- 
ing the silence which had reigned for 
some time in the arbor, “ any one who 
didn’t know that you were making a 
bridal wreath would declare it was a 
garland for a tombstone ! Why, what 
do you look like 1 A pretty wedding 
face that is !” 

Poor Lilli had started violently at the 
first words, and the color which the Hof- 
rathin had missed from her lips and her 
cheeks returned for an instant in a crim- 
son glow. 

“It is true I have had my own sad 
thoughts about that wreath,” continued 
Aunt Barbchen as Lilli remained silent. 
“It has been tormented and forced out 
of the parents, who consider their daugh- 
ter’s choice an unhappy one. There 
have been evil scenes about it in her 
home. I don’t know — in my time it was 
very different : then young people had 
more respect for their parents’ views, and 


I think, too, loved them with more self- 
sacrifice.” 

Her large, bright eyes grew dim and 
gazed into the distance far, far beyond 
the garden, but not in the sunny blue, 
whose lower border was lost in a tender, 
rosy vapor : they had wandered back to 
the long-vanished days of youth, and a 
sad moment it must have been on which 
they were resting, for over her lips hov- 
ered a melancholy smile. 

“ I loved my father very dearly,” said 
she at last: “I would not have pained or 
grieved him for anything in the world. 
It gives me even now a pang whenever 
I think how, as a tiny child, I asked him 
one day, ‘Father, why have all the chil- 
dren two arms and I only one ?’ And 
if I live a hundred years I shall never 
forget how his dear, earnest face became 
white as a sheet, and so terribly altered 
that I screamed aloud and began to cry. 
I never asked him again, but from that 
time, when others looked pityingly at me, 
I trembled for fear he should remark it 
and it should trouble him. Later, he 
had an artificial arm made for me : it 
looked natural and was very expensive, 
but taught me the stern lesson that every 
falsity brings its own revenge. My child, 
it has been more than thirty years since, 
and yet I remember exactly how I felt. 
I was an ugly thing ; had a rough-fea- 
tured, clumsy face, an awkward figure, 
and never could acquire what are called 
elegant manners. I knew all this just as 
well as my worst enemy could have 
known it, and that made me more awk- 
ward still ; and as I was very truthful, I 
was frequently rude and unpolished. No 
one cared to dance with me, and if I was 
not a wall-flower at balls, it was because 
my father was a rich and influential man. 
Therefore I was much surprised when I 
remarked that there was a certain person 
who liked to talk to me. He was not 
from this town, but came here, from time 
to time, on business, and to my father’s 
house also. He came oftener and re- 
mained longer than was entirely neces- 
sary. I saw quickly that tliis was on my 
account, and I was heartily grateful to 
him. But once it happened that he had 
been away for a long time, and when he 


OVER YONDER. 


33 


returned I met him in the hall. It 
pleased me to see that he looked very 
happy at seeing me : he seized my hand 
quickly and unexpectedly. It was the 
left hand — the false one ! It is always 
painful to see one of our friends in deadly 
terror, but at this moment my heart 
seemed to stand still from consternation ; 
for he stood there before me with a face 
white as the wall. I think he must have 
had a kind of vertigo or faintness from 
flight and horror. He stared at me ter- 
ribly, and flung the unhappy pasteboard 
imitation away from him as though it 
were a viper. A terrible struggle was 
raging within me, but I kept my tongue 
still, and was so guarded in my manner 
that my father died without ever know- 
ing or suspecting what a bitter heartache 
I had endured. But I laid the arm bSck 
in its place for ever ; I had been pun- 
ished for the deceit.” 

“ And the man, aunt ?” asked Lilli, 
deeply touched. 

“ Well, he turned around, went out 
the door and did not come back to R. 
for a long time. He afterward married 
one of my friends,” said the Hofrathin, 
almost harshly. She evidently was try- 
ing to assume a light tone, and that did 
not suit the strong, inflexible voice. 

Aunt Barbchen’s communication, in 
connection with various things which she 
had heard said at home, left little doubt 
in the girl’s mind that the man spoken 
of was her own father. And how had 
the unhappy woman requited the pain 
and grief which he had caused her ? 
She had remained a true friend to him 
under all circumstances ; and once, 
when by an unfortunate speculation — he 
was a banker — he had stood on the 
brink of ruin, she had placed her entire 
fortune at his disposal, and thus saved 
him. She had therefore always been an 
object of great veneration to Lilli’s pa- 
rents. The girl had been exhorted by 
her mother on her deathbed never inten- 
tionally to grieve this sincere friend, 
whose favorite she was, but as far as 
possible to make her life a cheerful and 
happy one. 

“Yes, indeed, no one knows better 
than I do the power of a firm will over 
3 


a rebellious heart,” continued the Hof- 
rathin, after a pause. “ But people are 
so different now-a-days : they are al- 
ways talking about bodily strength, and 
look doubtful, generally, when strength 
of mind is mentioned. The beloved / 
fills the throne in their estimation, and 
silently-offered sacrifices become more 
and more rare amongst women of the 
present day.” 

Lilli had finished the wreath and la d 
it with a hasty gesture on the table. A 
deep glow was burning on her cheeks, 
and an expression of defiant decision lay 
on the tightly-closed lips. At Aunt 
Barbchen’s last words the question had 
arisen in her mind, How would sh^ bear 
the ordeal of a bitter heart-conflict ? 

Unbidden, but none the less obstinate- 
ly, stood those dark flaming eyes instantly 
before her, and with a strange mixture 
of shyness and a — to her — completely 
new feeling of happiness, she thought, 
for the first time. How would it be 
should he “over yonder,” unfettered, 
wholly unfettered, offer her his hand ? 
And instantly, too, lay discords before 
her, into which she gazed shuddering, 
as into a bottomless abyss. The word 
“conflict” had, until now, been a mean- 
ingless one to her. Pure and unshad- 
owed as a clear, sheltered lake, to which 
no storm can reach, had her young soul 
smiled to the world. Only once -had 
dark clouds floated above it — when her 
mother died — a blow of Fate that had 
brought pain, but no conflict, with it. 
Idolized by her father, she always had 
her slightest wish gratified, and obtained 
without trouble whatever she desired ; 
and if ever she did meet with opposition, 
it only needed a few coaxing words, a 
little roguishness on her part, to change 
the paternal decision. She had there- 
fore no means of judging of her power 
to make an almost superhuman offering. 
It is true that in the one scale lay what 
as yet was only a phantom, the sweet 
dream of happiness ; but in the other, 
reality — Aunt Barbchen’s claims on her 
love, gratitude and sacrifice. And she 
felt that in such a strife her aunt ought 
not to be the vanquished one. She had 
been the preserver of the family honor, 


34 


OVER YONDER. 


and it was owing to her alone that Lilli 
and those dear to her were in independ- 
ent — in fact, brilliant — circumstances. 
She had watched by the bedside of her 
favorite with unwearied patience and en- 
durance, when even maternal strength 
had given way. The phantom sank 
vanquished : at all events, for the time. 

“ Aunt Barbchen, you always laugh 
at what you call my fragile figure, and 
perhaps think my strength of mind is 
not much greater than my strength of 
body,” said Lilli, defiantly, “ but you are 
mistaken : I would have acted precisely 
as you did.” 

“ Oho, child ! you are talking as a 
blind man does of colors,” laughed the 
Hofrathin. “Ah, little one, what do you 
know of heart-conflicts 1 You who have 
a corner full of dolls in your room ! And 
may you be spared all such conflicts, my 
darling !” continued she, softly smooth- 
ing the rich hair of the maiden caress- 
ingly. “ You are not fitted to bear them, 
little moonlight princess !” 

The conversation was interrupted by 
a visitor, a young merchant from the 
city, the son of one of Aunt Barbchen’s 
acquaintances, who had just returned 
from a visit to Paris, and desired to pay 
his respects. With the air of a man of 
the world he entered the arbor, which 
was at once filled with the odor of a 
powerful perfume. From his hair to his 
boots this (in his own opinion) fascinat- 
ing young man was a perfect represen- 
tation of the last whims of fashion in the 
modern Babel whence he came. A 
stream of words, mingled with a quan- 
tity of French phrases, floated like honey 
from his lips. After Aunt Barbchen’s 
homely but affecting narration, this over- 
strained, superficial manner was doubly 
unpleasant to Lilli. She replied to the 
trite remarks which he addressed to her 
principally in monosyllables, and was 
much relieved when the Hofrathin sent 
her out to cut a bouquet for the mother 
of the young gentleman. But, to her 
chagrin, he at once took his leave of 
Aunt Barbchen, and walked on by her 
side, lisping some worn-out compliment 
at every flower she cut. At last she 
tore an ugly, half-withered catchfly ang- 


rily from its stem, and placed it in the 
bouquet, which she handed to him with 
averted face. Doubtless far too con- 
ceited to understand Lilli’s gesture, he 
seized her hand and raised it to his lips. 

At this instant a crashing blow rang 
through the garden, followed by the rat- 
tling of down-falling fragments of glass. 
Lilli turned in surprise quickly to the 
neighboring house, for the noise came 
thence. The last glittering fragments 
of the north tower window were raining 
down on the stone pavement — the ro- 
mantic figures of the unhappy lovers had 
vanished, crushed into atoms. In their 
stead the window framed Bluebeard’s 
commanding figure. Unmoved by the 
crash of the ruined work of art, he stood 
motionless for an instant, his right arm 
still extended. Then he folded his arms, 
and in this provoking, almost scornful, 
position gazed fixedly down at the pair, 
whilst the dark-blue hangings behind him 
rendered doubly conspicuous the striking 
pallor of his countenance. 

“ Look ! the nabob up yonder is hav- 
ing a private joke, and smashing his 
splendid window, so as to show us he is 
able to buy another,” said the young man 
by Lilli’s side, mockingly. “ How im- 
pudently he stares down here ! I have 
a great mind to chastise him for his 
audacity.” 

But this threat was whispered in a low 
tone, and evidently was not intended to 
reach the tower window. Lilli scarcely 
heard him. With the penetration of a 
newly-awakened heart she comprehended, 
quick as lightning, all that was passing in 
the mind of him “over yonder.” He 
was evidently miserable. She felt a pas- 
sionate, almost irresistible, desire to re- 
assure him, but as quickly she recovered 
the mastery over her suddenly rebellious 
feelings. Nevertheless the thought that 
she seemed to be on intimate terms with 
the young coxcomb beside her was in- 
supportable. Therefore she replied to the 
gentlemen’s graceful farewell bow with an 
almost imperceptible, proud bend of the 
head, and, without casting another glance 
at the tower window, walked slowly to 
the arbor. 

The Hofrathin was about going to the 


OVER YONDER. 


35 


house. She assuredly must have heard I 
the noise, and also have perceived its 
cause, hut she said not a word about the 
occurrence. She advised Lilli to take the 
wreath to its wearer ; and by all means, 
when she presented it, to lay aside the 
“undertaker’s expression” with which 
her unfortunate aunt had been favored 
during the livelong morning. 

Aunt Barbchen probably indulged in 
the secret delusion that the doll’s corner 
in Lilli’s room was a sovereign preventive 
of heart-troubles ; otherwise how could 
she have attributed the unmistakable 
deep emotion in the face of the young 
girl, whose color was rapidly changing 
from pale to red, and from red to pale 
again, to depression of spirits or to out- 
and-out ill-humor ? She was a sworn 
enemy of drooping heads in young 
people, and consequently her indig- 
nation was renewed in the afternoon, 
when Lilli appeared in the sitting-room 
in her bridesmaid’s dress, and, though 
she smiled constrainedly, yet looking 
just as distrait and lost in her own 
thoughts as she had been in the morn- 
ing. Aunt Barbchen pointed with a 
kind of comic anger to the grandmother’s 
portrait. 

“ Those are ugly things, those black 
patches,” said she, “and I never could 
understand why any one would spoil a 
handsome face by sticking those spots 
over it. But to-day I would be delighted 
to paste the whole collection on your 
forehead, for the wrinkles there provoke 
me tremendously. As for your dress, 
that looks very well ; but there is one 
thing wanting — and precisely what I like 
so much for a young girl — a few fresh 
flowers on the breast. Go out in the 
garden and cut yourself a branch of 
white roses : you have plenty of time.” 

Plenty of time she certainly had, for 
the Hofrathin had made her dress an 
hour too early, that the celebration might 
not be delayed by a tardy bridesmaid. 
Lilli wandered mechanically down the 
steps and through the principal walk. 
Her dress of rich silk rustled over the 
gravel : the white, lustrous material 
seemed almost too weighty for the elf- 
like figure of the girl ; but the heavy I 


I look was relieved by misty tulle puffings 
and by the lace which surrounded the 
neck and sleeves. A single white water- 
lily, its dull-gold chalice full of shining 
crystal drops, rested on her brow ; long 
grasses mingled carelessly with the beau- 
tiful hair, and fell upon her shoulders ; 
here and there blood-red drops shone 
from among the dark tresses or from 
the surface of a leaf, where the wreath 
was fastened with coral pins. On both 
sides of the path white roses were bloom- 
ing, but Lilli did not touch them. She 
had already forgotten why she had been 
sent into the garden : she walked dream- 
ily on. She did not see that she had 
already passed the bean-hedge which 
enclosed a portion of the path leading to 
the pavilion. Only when the tall green 
walls on either side disappeared, and sun- 
shine lay once more full and warm upon 
the gravel walk, did she raise her head — 
the pavilion lay before her. At the 
same instant the door was pushed sud- 
denly open from within, and Bluebeard 
strode into the garden. 

Lilli gave a slight cry, and started to 
fly back to the principal walk. 

“ Stop, or I will follow you to the 
house !” cried he, in so loud and threat- 
ening a voice that she glanced uneasily 
at the dwelling : the sound must have 
reached its farthest corner. She stood 
as if rooted to the ground while he came 
quickly up to her. Seeing her anxious 
glance, a bitter smile came upon his 
lips. 

“ Don’t be alarmed,” said he, with 
rough irony ; “Aunt Barbchen won’t be 
frightened by my presence, for the excel- 
lent reason that she can’t see me here. 
I will do no harm to her nor to her gar- 
den. Have you ever seen a crushed 
flower or a trampled blade of grass 
around the house or near the arbor ? 
And yet I have stood there in the dark 
night, times without number. Though I 
tread in forbidden paths, yet I know 
how to respect the property of others. 
To this irresistible impulse, which forces 
me to wander in darkness through the 
enemy’s country, I owe a vast quantity 
of intelligence. For instance, I know 
I you are going to a wedding, and that this 


36 


OVER YONDER. 


dreamy water-lily will arouse the indig- 
nation of all your young lady friends, for 
they wanted to insist on your wearing 
scarlet verbena.” 

Lilli’s eyes were flashing with anger. 
She raised them to his face : violent 
words came to her lips, but his appear- 
ance frightened her so that she could 
not bring forth a sound. He had evi- 
dently lost all self-command. His face 
was still paler than it had been that 
morning, and his lips, which he strove to 
force into a mocking smile, rebelled 
against his authority and quivered fever- 
ishly. He had maintained his ironical 
tone to the very last word, but, contrary 
to his usual habit (for, though quick and 
fiery, he always spoke in a measured and 
emphatic manner), he had poured forth 
the sentences so brokenly and hastily 
that it seemed as though he wanted 
breath. 

What should she do ? The tumult 
within her was indescribable. At his 
first loud exclamation she had shrunk 
back in terror. Fear lest the Hofrathin 
should suddenly appear on the scene 
and insult her hated neighbor was still 
the dominant feeling. With a powerful 
effort she calmed the inward storm, and 
in a tolerably quiet but trembling voice 
said, “ Well, as you know where I am 
going, you must also know that I can- 
not wait here any longer.” 

“ Oh, you have plenty of time,” in- 
terrupted he : “ the carriage is not to 
come for you till four o’clock. You see 
I have learned a great deal on my post 
of observation behind the arbor. Yes, 
when one once falls into sin, they often 
sink over head and ears. Once I was 
guiltless of the crime of eavesdropping — 
guiltless as yonder sun — and now I Do 
you see those blue curtains up yonder, 
behind the tower window There I 
stand on guard, and sometimes, too, suf- 
fer the punishment of the eavesdropper, 
in being obliged to see what gives me 
torture. Oh yes ! Only this morning 
I witnessed a surprising spectacle. It 
enraged me so that I forgot space and 
every obstacle, and thought with one 
blow to crush the wretched insect that 
dared to touch my flower ; and that made 


an end of Romeo and Juliet ! Ah, that 
Romeo deserved his fate ! I hated him 
at last, he was so distractingly happy. 
That blonde Adonis this morning, who, 
I suppose, is to be your cavalier at the 
wedding, he could take flowers from your 
hand, as many as he chose ; whilst if I 
should now appeal to your sense of jus- 
tice, and beg you only to break oflf this 
one miserable twig for me, you wouldn’t 
do it, I suppose — would you ?” 

“ I have no right to these flowers — 
they belong to my aunt.” 

“Ah, excellently said! Well, what 
would be your answer if I said, ‘ Don’t 
go to the wedding : I suffer inexpres- 
sibly at the thought that you will be 
there ?’ ” 

At these words all the girl’s hardly- 
conquered feelings rose again tumultu- 
ously. Involuntarily she glanced up at 
him. At this moment he took both her 
hands : the fierce irony, the wild pain 
had vanished from his voice : it seemed 
almost as though the weapons of vehe- 
ment defiance had failed him faithlessly 
for the moment, giving full space to a 
mixture of passionate anguish and ap- 
prehension. 

“ Don’t go, I beg of you !” and his 
eyes, but a moment before so scornful, 
melted with unspeakable tenderness and 
softness. But in spite of her inward 
trembling, in spite of the stormy emo- 
tions which drew her almost irresistibly 
to him, she felt that she must refuse his 
request. She withdrew her hands has- 
tily, and the secret struggle rendered her 
voice harsh and cutting as she replied, 

“ That is a strange request : it is not 
in my power to grant it.” 

A deep flush rose on the face of 
Bluebeard, and he resumed his former 
manner : “ I might have expected that 
such would be your answer,” he said. 
“ But what if I insist on my request at 
all hazards ? Do you not think that it 
would be easy for me to take the refrac- 
tory personage in my arms and carry her 
off to my house over yonder, and keep 
her there a prisoner until after the wed- 
ding-feast ? It would not be the first 
time that a bold mortal has succeeded in 
carrying off a Nixe.” 


OVER YONDER. 


37 


“ Nor the first time a prisoner has 
wept in the ‘ house over yonder !’ ” cried 
Lilli, with quivering lips. 

“ A prisoner ! In my house !” ex- 
claimed he, stepping back in the greatest 
amazement ; but suddenly, as though he 
had found the solution of the mystery, 
he struck his hand on his forehead 

“ Oh, fool that I was !” he cried with 
an altered voice. » How came I to 
forget that I live in the precincts of a 
little town, surrounded by curious eyes 
and idle tongues, to whom a mystery is 
as welcome as a miserable fly to a hun- 
gry spider ? And so gossips and spin- 
sters yonder ” — and he stretched out his 
arm toward the town — “ tell stories of a 
weeping, imprisoned woman in my house ? 
And doubtless I play in this drama the 
compulsory role of a Wehr-wolf or a 
Bluebeard !” 

In spite of the painful position in 
which the young girl was, and although 
shame at the exclamation which had 
escaped her on a momentary impulse 
drove a burning blush over her cheeks, 
she could hardly help smiling when he 
himself innocently made use of the nick- 
name which had become so natural to 
her. 

“And you, of course, at once believed 
in this mystery, an^. abhorred me ?” he 
continued, reproachfully. “ How could I 
have dared to look into your pure eyes 
within sight of the very scene of these 
supposed horrors ? I do not care in the 
least what other people think and say of 
me. I would not even open my lips to 
contradict their nonsensical gossip. But 
in your mind this hateful suspicion must 
not exist for a moment longer. Yes, a 
poor, unhappy woman does dwell in my 
house — not under compulsion nor as a 
prisoner, but guarded and protected by 
me. Beatrice is my sister, but we had 
not the same mother : mine died with- 
out even knowing of this poor creature’s 
existence ; and only on his deathbed did 
my father confide to me the secret and 
the care of his daughter. He always 
loved her even better than me, the only 
son, and I am not surpris*ed, for she is a 
wonderfully gifted woman. But never- 
theless her existence became to him a 


source of extreme grief and care. You 
— in whose face people gaze pleased and 
smiling — you cannot imagine what that 
unhappy being suffers. Delicate from 
her birth, she was suddenly attacked by 
a frightful and violent disease a short 
time before her father’s death. Her fea- 
tures, which before were of enchanting 
beauty, are completely distorted. She 
hides her disfigured face behind a veil. 
I never see her without it. Her disease 
is incurable, and, as she herself always 
declares, contagious : and for that reason 
she never permits me even so much as to 
touch her hand. She flees 'the sight of 
her fellow-beings : the dread of being an 
object of terror is extremely distressing to 
her : therefore I have always taken care 
that no one should know of the secret 
behind the veil except her maid and n?y 
negro servant, who is most faithfully at- 
tached to us. This was my reason for 
desiring the removal of the pavilion 
window.” 

Lilli had listened to him as in a dream : 
he stood fully justified before her. In- 
stead of the supposed crimes which lent 
a demon-like something to his bold, 
haughty appearance, she read now on 
his brow only the most noble thoughts. 
It had always been a decided feature in 
Lilli’s character, from her very childhood, 
that when conscious of having done in- 
justice to others she never would allow 
the wrong to remain unacknowledged or 
unatoned for. With all her perverseness 
and self-will, it never had been neces- 
sary to compel her to beg for forgive- 
ness. When convinced of her fault, she 
would always do everything in her power 
to expiate it with passionate eagerness 
and eloquence. But never had the feel- 
ing of repentance, and the desire to heal 
the wound she had inflicted, been so 
deep and powerful as at this moment. 
Perhaps his piercing eye read what was 
passing in the girl’s mind. He took her 
hand once more, but this time in a very 
tender yet very imploring way ; and his 
face, even to his lips, became of that 
deadly paleness which often accompanies 
a powerful inward excitement. 

“ Lilli,” said he — the name fell for the 
first time from his lips, and how infinite- 


38 


OVER YONDER. 


ly sweet did it sound ! — “ I have been 
unconsciously battling against a phan- 
tom : it has fallen now, and I see my 
way more clearly. Only raise your eyes 
once firmly and without prejudice to my 
face, and you must acknowledge that it 
can only be an absurd slander which 
throws such a terrible light upon me. I 
do not desire to make myself appear any 
better than I am — above all, to you. I 
am of a hasty, passionate nature. As 
the only son of a rich and respected 
house the door of the great world stood 
wide open before me, and I precipitated 
myself in the whirlpool of life, as thou- 
sands of others in my position have done. 
Do not condemn me, Lilli : I did not 
sink in the dark waters. On seeing 
my danger I only struggled the more 
vigorously to extricate my better self. 
And now I dare confidently to draw a 
pure woman to my side and to join her 
destiny to my own. But in the last few 
years I have given little place to this 
thought : I had no high opinion of wo- 
men. But one day a lovely creature 
stood before me — in form a fairy-like 
child ; but it gazed on me with eyes 
which sparkled with the perverseness of 
the maiden, with the rays of a quick, 
variable nature.” 

A carriage rolled down the road and 
stopped before the garden gate. Lilli 
started in terror and strove to draw 
away her hand, but he held it only the 
more firmly, and continued, with rapid 
utterance : 

“And then it became plain to me that 
the dark prophecy slumbering in my soul 
had suddenly become fulfilled — that pure, 
true love in this world is no mere ideal, 
and that this blessing had been vouch- 
safed to me. Lilli, mine you must be at 
all costs ! I — ” 

The girl tore her hand from him. 
The gravel on the principal walk was 
crushed beneath a heavy tread, and the 
voiC/C of the Hofrathin called loudly for 
her. 

“Never! never!” she cried, deathly 
pale and with quivering lips. “ Resign 
all hope, and never cross my path 
again !” 

She hastened to the broad walk and 


disappeared behind the bean -hedge. 
There stood the Hofrathin, the maiden’s 
cloak in her hand, gazing over the gar- 
den in search of the missing one. She 
scolded about the forgotten roses, cut 
off a few quickly herself, and in so doing 
did not notice that the culprit was stand- 
ing before her on trembling feet and with 
a face pale as ashes. Silently Lilli got 
into the carriage. She had a dull feeling 
that an immeasurable misfortune had 
suddenly come upon her, and that a sin 
blacker than night rested on her soul. 


CHAPTER IX. 

' The “green parlor” in the Hofrathin’s 
house — a very large corner room, v/ith 
six windows — remained, year in, year out, 
behind closed shutters and bolted doors. 
In the days of old Erich Dorn this room 
had witnessed many a brilliant scene. 
The tall mirrors, reaching to the ceiling, 
had reflected majestic women, with lofty 
tower-like coiffures and brocade trains, 
and the showy toilettes of the men, tho 
compounds of lace, satin and galloon 
worn by the gentlemen of those times. 
The nicely-inlaid floor could have told 
of many a minuet danced here in great 
solemnity by the dlite of the town, 
mounted on their high-heeled shoes. 
Only twice a year now were the shutters 
thrown open for a few days ; and then 
all who knew Aunt Barbchen’s ways 
knew that she contemplated a grand en- 
tertainment, to which all her friends were 
invited. 

To the amazement of Sauer and 
Dorte the order was given this summer 
for the airing of the green room very 
much earlier than had been the custom 
for many years. This departure from 
the rule had its sole cause in Lilli’s pro- 
tracted “ head-hanging,” as Aunt Barb- 
chen called it. It was for her some- 
thing new and unusual to “grope in the 
dark” with regard to Lilli’s feelings. 
After numberless conjectures, but never 
hitting the only right solution, she finally 
came to the conclusion that Lilli was 
homesick, and had at once, with the 
greatest self-denial, given her full per- 


OVER YONDER. 


39 


mission to return to Berlin. But with a 
vehement outbreak, that looked almost 
like terror, she had rejected the propo- 
sition. From this moment, she exerted 
all her powers to appear more cheerful, 
and Aunt Barbchen puzzled night and 
day how to drive the clouds from the 
brow of her darling. 

Many guests, both old and young, 
were invited to the approaching enter- 
tainment, and the Hofrathin had already 
looked more than once at the arranged 
card-tables for the old ladies and gentle- 
men to see if a space could not be 
cleared beside them for the dances of 
the young people. 

Owing to the constant and complete 
absence of air and light the room had 
preserved wonderfully its pristine glory. 
The gilding on the gracefully-carved 
cornices twinkled gayly under the sun- 
beams which peeped curiously in, and 
the mythological personages painted on 
the ceiling displayed the same lively 
flesh-color which had formerly delighted 
eyes now closed for many a year. Only 
a few female portraits in crayon, hung by 
an awkward, untasteful hand in the room 
furnished harmoniously in the Renais- 
sance style, had faded lips and cheeks ; 
and the once brilliant carmine of the 
ugly, horridly short-waisted dresses had 
changed to a sort of soiled tawny shade. 

In the chimney, in spite of the sum- 
mer heat, a bright fire was burning to 
dry any dampness that might be in the 
long-closed parlor. 

The furniture from the pavilion, tem- 
porarily placed here, still stood in the 
middle of the room, and the rescued 
oil-paintings leaned against the wall. 
Aunt Barbchen had finally determined 
that they should find a permanent rest- 
ing-place here, as Grandfather Erich had 
always shown a great fondness for this 
particular apartment. The Hofrathin 
and Lilli cleaned and washed the pictures 
carefully, and Sauer, who had at that 
moment returned from an errand to the 
town, was to hang them. He stepped 
with a certain pompous gravity into the 
room. Lilli, who was perfectly acquainted 
with the eccentricities of the old fellow, 
saw in an instant, from the expression 


of his broad face, that he had brought 
important news home with him. He 
moved a long-legged, uncushioned oak- 
chair to the wall, and, pretending to ex- 
amine carefully the place where the 
largest picture was to be hung, he said, 
without looking around, “The Frau 
Hofrathin will be glad to hear we shall 
soon be left once more in peace. He, 
over yonder” — he never ventured to 
pronounce the neighbor’s name in the 
presence of his mistress — “yes, he over 
yonder goes away to-morrow into the 
wide world, and perhaps across the 
ocean : all his things are packed and 
ready. His coachman said so at the 
baker’s where I ordered the tarts.” 

Lilli leant the “ Orestes” which she 
had in her hands against the wall, and 
from her tightly-closed lips came no 
sound. She walked to the door almost 
like a somnambulist whom some demon- 
ish spell drives onward. The tall oak 
door swung heavily to behind her, but 
neither the Hofrathin nor Sauer remarked 
it. The former received the news with 
an apparently indifferent “ Indeed !” and 
turned her face to the wundow for a mo- 
ment, while the old man mounted on the 
stool with trembling knees. The crayon 
portraits were taken from the wall, and 
Sauer hung the “ Orestes,” by way of 
experiment, on one of the old, loosened 
nails ; but the weight was too great. 
Scarcely had he taken away his hands 
when down fell the picture. He made 
an awkward attempt to catch it, which 
but made matters worse, for it threw the 
unfortunate painting against the mantel- 
piece, where it remained suspended on a 
projecting ornament ; but it was not the 
jframe which had caught, for the sharp 
sound of the tearing canvas was audible. 

“ Now, Sauer, that really is too awk- 
ward of you !” cried the Hofrathin, 
angrily. 

Sauer descended very much frightened 
from his chair, and took down the pic- 
ture : over the face of the “ Orestes ” 
ran numerous rents, an inch long, in 
various directions. 

“Just see what you have done !” 
scolded the Hofrathin, raising the flap- 
ping canvas ; but, as though she had 


40 


OVER YONDER. 


touched hot iron, she drew back her 
hand in terror, and the pallor of a fright- 
ful discovery overspread the features of 
the old woman. Two large mysterious 
brown eyes, full of fire and yet of gentle- 
ness, had looked up at her through the 
torn canvas. 

“ Leave the room, Sauer !” she stam- 
mered, and laid her hand over the rent. 
“ Go ! go !” repeated she, with an out- 
burst of impatience, pointing to the 
door, through which the contrite Sauer 
vanished. 

A deep sigh, almost a groan, burst 
from her lips. She seized a pair of 
scissors and wath a trembling but ener- 
getic and reckless hand cut the formerly 
so revered picture through the middle. 

The canvas fell back, and from a 
greenish-gray background rose an en- 
trancingly beautiful girlish form, and 
stood, apparently filled with the warm 
breath of life, before the agitated Hof- 
rathin. The long days of imprisonment 
had passed powerless over the rosy fresh- 
ness of those features : the sunbeams 
which illumined the exquisitely painted 
waves of hair had shed their glory im- 
partially and uninjured on the walls of 
her prison-house, and the brown velvet 
of the robe, soft, unrestrained and com- 
pletely deceptive in its reality, floated 
gracefully within the golden frame. Be- 
low, in one corner of the picture, was the 
name — van Dyck."' 

“ So, he really did it !” murmured the 
Hofrathin, in a dull, stupefied tone. 
“ And the Huberts were right when they 
called him ^hief !' Dreadful ! dreadful ! 
And he could bear to live after this mis- 
erable deed, and could see and suffer those 
around him to abuse and revile the man 
whom he had robbed ! And that was 
why his last w'ords were, ‘The pavilion!’ 
And these words were honored and re- 
garded as a sacred legacy I All the 
Erichs went to their rest in the convic- 
tion that their quarrel was a just one ; 
and to me — to me alone, the last of the 
line — comes the terrible revelation (and I 
must answer for it to him over yonder) 
that the honest Erichs for eighty long 
years have been — concealers of stolen 
goods !” 


She stared motionless at the ^uiet 
face that gazed so sweetly and harmless- 
ly into the world, and thought, shudder- 
ingly, of the moment when her grand- 
father, crazed with passion, must have 
penetrated by night into the open house 
of the innocent and confiding family — 
of that lonely hour when, hiding his un- 
happy secret behind bolt and bar, he had 
painted the “ Orestes,” which for nearly 
a century had enviously concealed that 
maiden face so full of grace and inno- 
cence, and in its place displayed to the 
world the pangs of an evil conscience in 
every distorted line. 

The Hofrathin did not for an instant 
fluctuate in her conviction that the pic- 
ture ought to be restored to its rightful 
owner, and that as soon as possible, 
for he was going away to-morrow. What 
a terrible task for her to perform ! She 
must beg of the man whom, till this day, 
she had treated as a mortal enemy, to 
deal gently with the honor of her grand- 
father — she must conquer her pride to 
this end, for her stern, incorruptible 
sense of justice told her that the injury 
of so many years’ standing must be 
atoned for. But when she thought that 
perhaps the young man might treat her 
in an overbearing or disrespectful man- 
ner, her blood seemed boiling in her 
veins, and she was afraid of her own 
quick temper, which might easily spoil 
all. After a bitter struggle she left the 
green room, closed the door behind her 
and called for Lilli in a tremulous voice ; 
but she received no answer. ' 

The young girl, on leaving the room, 
had gone out into the garden. It seemed 
as though her entire powers were -con- 
centrated on the one thought, “He is 
going, and without saying farewell !” 

Her cruel words, “ Never cross my 
path again,” were, then, to be the last 
that would ever pass between them ! 
Impossible ! She walked on, but not 
through the long, winding gravel path. 
She wandered across vegetable beds 
and shrubbery, unconscious that the mid- 
day sun was blazing down upon her 
unprotected head. In vain did the 
thorns clasp her dress, as if to hold her 
back ; in vain did the frightened birds 


OVER YONDER. 


41 


cry and flutter in the thickets, and seem 
striving to dissuade her from an act so 
contrary to delicacy and maiden pride. 
She entered the pavilion. 

There lay the rubbish of the destroyed 
wall, and across the floor, once kept so 
spotlessly clean by Dorte’s industrious 
hand, ran a much-used pathway out to 
Aunt Barbchen’s garden. The opening 
in the wall was considerably enlarged. 
The remains of the framework had di- 
minished to a low step, which separated 
the floor of the pavilion from a reckless- 
ly-crushed flower bed in the garden 
“ over yonder.” 

For the first time house and garden 
lay before her in brilliant sunshine : 
the little wonder-world created by an 
artistic, fine and harmonious taste — the 
spot of home-earth, which its owner de- 
sired to see in all the adornments of 
beauty, as a tender bridegroom his bride. 

A gentle zephyr floated over the nod- 
ding flower heads : they shook gently, 
gently, as though in sad denial ; and 
the murmur of the plashing fountains 
sounded in the girl’s ears like a monoto- 
nous lamentation that soon they must 
'cast their bright columns to the sky, un- 
seen by human eyes, in the midst of a 
deserted Eden. Yonder, through the 
cool, leafy walk, some one was wandering 
slowly and silently. But it was not that 
solitary woman in the sweeping white 
robe, who had placed herself like a 
threatening spectre between Lilli and 
her love : it was he himself. He came 
nearer and nearer, his hands folded be- 
hind him and his head bent. 

How could she ever have imagined that 
thoughts full of evil and of cruel, violent 
passion could dwell behind that noble 
brow ? How had it been possil^le that 
she had held fast to her own wanton 
resolutions, and done battle for the old, 
faded family legends against his earnest, 
loving words 1 How had she ever given 
place to the thought that her heart would 
grad'ially get back into the beaten path 
of its former peace, after the immeasur- 
able gulf which she, in her arrogance, 
had placed between two hearts made for 
each other 1 He came nearer and nearer, 
and yet she did not move. Her graceful 


figure, clad in snowy muslin, stood in 
the breach like a patiently-expectant 
child: with her right hand she supported 
herself against a beam, her face gleaming 
in almost ghastly whiteness against the 
dark background of the pavilion wall. 
A twig brushed the forehead of the 
lonely wanderer : he looked up, and at 
the same moment into Lilli’s eyes. He 
stood as if rooted to the ground. 

“ Lilli !” he cried, with unspeakable 
expression. In those tones struggled 
joy and sorrow, alternating hope and 
fear. With rapid steps he stood beside 
her. 

He took her hand: she let him do so 
unresistingly. He stooped, in breathless 
suspense, to read her face : she smiled, 
and her eyes met firmly his eager, in- 
quiring gaze. 

“ Lilli,” he began at last, with a voice 
trembling and full of excitement, “your 
appearance here would be a terrible cru- 
elty unless — ” He paused and let her 
hand fall. “I did not intend to see you 
again,” he recommenced. “ Precisely 
because the sight of you had become 
necessary to me — necessary as the 
breath of life — for that very reason I 
felt that I must conquer my feelings and 
remember the words which you yourself 
had spoken to me, unless I wish to be- 
come contemptible in my own eyes. I 
have one of those natures with whom 
what they have once loved is as though 
carved in bronze. I will never forget 
you, Lilli — never ! never ! But I am 
not one of those who resign themselves 
completely and without a struggle to a 
gnawing heart-pain. I am going far 
away, Lilli ! Many long miles will di- 
vide us, and perhaps time may exert a 
healing influence upon my grief. 1 can- 
not yet say to you, ‘ Be happy.’ That 
would be to bind myself to the stake with 
my own hands, and I have not yet the 
resignation thus to become a voluntary 
martyr. The thought that you may one 
day be another’s makes my blood boil, 
and that wish for your happiness might 
easily change to a — ” 

He stopped suddenly, and his gaze 
was fixed piercingly on some object be- 
hind Lilli. She turned. The Hofrathin 


42 


OVER YONDER. 


stood in the doorway, the pallor called 
forth by her unhappy discovery still 
overspreading her features. Her face 
looked at this moment very much alter- 
ed, but the clear gray eyes rested with a 
strange lustre and an inexplicable ex- 
pression on the two figures before her. 
Lilli did not approach her : she rather 
moved nearer to her companion, as 
though there alone was her place. 

“ Aunt, you come too late,” said she, 
firmly, and a crimson flush rose on the 
pale face. “ If he will not reject me be- 
cause in foolish over-estimation of my 
strength I wounded him deeply, I am 
his ! You are the benefactress of my 
family. Aunt Barbchen ; and as long as 
I can remember you have loved and 
cherished me as your own child. Until 
very lately you have stood beside my 
parents in my heart, and above you I 
thought no one could ever have a place. 
How changed all that is now ! But I 
wished to compel my gratitude to keep 
the upper hand. No human being knows 
how in these last few days I have strug- 
gled and striven ; but though one may 
close his eyes to the light, yet it is still 
there. Trying to control the free winds 
of heaven is not more vain and useless 
than a contest with immortal Love. Call 
me ungrateful, love me no longer : I will 
be grieved beyond description ; but — I 
go with him !” 

At her first words he had thrown his 
arm around her, and it seemed now in- 
deed as though the fortunate mortal 
would succeed in bearing away his 
hardly-obtained Nixe. 

The tall figure yonder and her possi- 
ble reproaches existed no longer for him. 
He hung upon the lips of the maiden as 
with a few energetic words she thus gave 
him the right to possess her. The Hof- 
rathin had meantime approached, and 
her strongly-cut mouth quivered with a 
sort of suppressed weeping — an expres- 
sion which Lilli had never before seen 
on her face. 

« Child, you have never had any just 
conception of how dearly I love you, else 
you would have shown more confidence 
in me,” said she, with unusual gentle- 
ness. “Now, I will not quarrel with 


you, for the greater part of the fault is 
mine. In spite of my prejudice, I would 
have looked at this matter in an entirely 
different light from what you imagined. 
I would only have asked you to consider 
one thing — and that one thing I still ask 
you to consider — Will you confide your 
entire future to this man when you know 
nothing of his past t The little that we 
do know — ” 

“ Oh, Aunt Barbchen, not a word 
more !” cried Lilli, hastily, and laying 
her hands at the same moment on the 
lips of young Dorn, who was about to 
speak. “ The little that we know — or 
rather that we interpreted after our own 
suspicions — is precisely one of his 
noblest actions. You, as well as myself, 
will have to pray his forgiveness for one 
injustice.” 

“ And your father .?” 

“ He will sanction my choice when he 
knows Dorn.” 

“ Well, then, I have no more to say, 
except that your choice makes me, too, 
happy. Lilli, it rests in your hands to 
repair a great injury done by the Erichs 
to the Huberts.” 

In a few moments the three stood in 
the green room before the momentous 
picture. Aunt Barbchen told of her 
discovery, and offered her former sup- 
posed enemy her hand in token of 
reconciliation. 

He grasped it heartily with his right : 
with his left he seized the painting and 
threw it in the fireplace. 

“ I am robbing the human race,” said 
he, tranquilly ; “ but better a work of 
art less in the world than that painful 
recollections should be conjured up by 
its existence.” 

“ No, no !” cried the Hofrathin, 
snatching it from the flames, which al- 
ready were greedily licking the tattered 
remains of the “ Orestes.” “ It shall 
live for the pleasure of others, and to be 
a ceaseless admonition to me that we 
are human and liable to err.” 

The next day workmen were laboring 
merrily in the two gardens. The green 
hedge fell, and also the pavilion. Rakes 
were drawn over the strip of ground 
from which the shrubs “ were to grow 


OVER YONDER. 


43 


up to the sky and where, so short a 
time since, the face of Orestes looked 
down from the wall, now lovely, inno- 
cent flower-eyes gaze into the world. 

The mysterious Unknown wanders in 
the evening, with steps ever growing 
weaker, through the two gardens : her 
timidity and shyness have vanished. 
She knows that she i§ surrounded and 
guarded by tender sympathy and love. 
Moreover, old Dorte is one of her most 
devoted servitors, and is ever striving to 
a one for the slanders which she once 


uttered against her. Sauer, who, when 
we last saw him, was tottering out of 
the green room with trembling knees, 
has now a much wider sphere for the 
forbidden clouds of his obnoxious weed. 
His long coat-tails sweep the fine Eng- 
lish velvet turf in the neighbor’s garden. 

He is more intolerant than ever to 
Dorte’s fiend and demon legends, since 
he has discovered that the negro — for- 
merly in his opinion an inhabitant of the 
infernal regions — has the most faithful 
and honest heart under the sun. 








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History of the Dervishes ; or. Oriental Spiritualism. By John P. Brown, Interpreter of the 
American Legation at Constantinople. With twenty-four Illustrations. One vol. crowm 8vo. 
Cloth. $3.50. 

Baker’s Abyssinia. 

The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia, and the Sword Hunters of the Hamran Arabs. By Sir 
Samuel White Baker, author of “ The Albert Nyanza,” With Maps and numerous Illus- 
trations, drawn by E. Griset from original Sketches by the Author. Superfine paper. One 
vol. crown 8vo. Extra cloth. Price $2.75. 

“ It solves finally a geographical riddle which hitherto had been extremely perplexing, and it adds 
much to our information respecting Egyptian Abyssinia and the different races that spread over 
it .” — London Times. 

Watson’s Astronomy. 

Theoretical Astronomy, relating to the Motions of the Heavenly Bodies revolving around the 
Sun in accordance with the law of Universal Gravitation. With Numerical Examples and 
Auxiliary Tables. By Prof. James C. Watson, Director of the Observatory at Ann Arbor, 
and Professor of Astronomy in the University of Michigan. One vol. royal 8vo. Cloth. 
Price $10. 

“Mr. Watson, the well-known and gifted director of the Ann Arbor Observatory, following the 
steps of his master, Brunnow, has produced a book unique in its scope, as far as we know, and 
which will at once take its place in every astronomical library, and lie at the right hand of every 
practical observer .” — The Athenmtm, 18, 1868. 

Elements of Art Criticism. 

By G. W. Samson, D.D., President of Columbian College, Washington, D. C. Comprising a 
treatise on “The Principles of Man’s Nature as Addressed by Art,” with a historic survey of 
“ The Methods of Art Execution in Drawing, Sculpture, Architecture, Painting, Landscape- 
Gardening and the Decorative Arts.” Designed as a Text-book for Schools and Colleges, 
and as a Hand-book for Amateurs and Artists. 8vo. Fine cloth. Price $3.50. 

Chauvenet’s Manual of Spherical and Practical Astronomy. 

Embracing the general problems of Spherical Astronomy, its special applications to Nautical 
Astronomy and the Theory and Use of Fixed and Portable Astronomical Instruments. With 
an Appendix on the method of Least Squares. Amply illustrated by engravings on wood 
and steel. By Wm. Chauvenet, Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Washington 
University, St Louis. 2 vols. imperial 8vo. Cloth. Price j^io. 2 vols. medium 8vo. 
Price $7. 

“Chauvenet’s Astronomy — a book positively luxurious in its type and illustrations, and perhaps 
the best of its kind in any language, both in matter, in clearness of style, and in soundness and 
exhaustiveness of its treatment ” — The Atheneeuniy July 18, 1868. 

The Gallery of Geography. 

A Pictorial and Descriptive Tour of the World. By Rev. Thomas Milner, M.A. With 
numerous Maps and steel-plate Engravings, and nearly 400 fine wood-cut Illustrations. Com- 
plete in two handsome royal 8vo. vols. Extra cloth. Price J^io. 

For sale by Booksellers generally, or will be sent by mail, postage free, 
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"LEGIBLE, PORTABLE, HANDSOME AND CHEAP.” 


JUST COMPLETED. 

THE GLOBE EDITION 

OF 

BULWEE’S NOVELS. 


THIS EDITION OF THE NOVELS OF 

SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON, BART., 

(Lord Lytton), 

IS NOW COMPLETE IN 

TWENTY-TWO NEAT 16M0. VOLUMES. 

Printed, on Tinted Paper, witla. Engra-v^ed Frontispiece, 
EACH OF THE VOLUMES AVERAGING OVER 700 PAGES. 
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IPE.ZOB: $1.50 WOL. 

Price per Set. — Cloth, $33.00. Extra cloth, gilt top, $38.50. Half calf, 
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THE FOLLOWING ARE EACH COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME : 

THE CAXTONS. — PELHAM. — EUGENE ARAM.— THE LAST OF THE BARONS. — LU- 
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A STRANGE STORY.— ZANONL— HAROLD.— LEILA, PILGRIMS OF THE 
RHINE, AND CALDERON.— NIGHT AND MORNING.— ERNEST 
MALTRAVERS.— ALICE.— PAUL CLIFFORD.— 

THE DISOWNED. 

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The Series will consist of about Twenty Volumes, and will contain all of Mr. Thackeray’s 
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FOUR GOOD NOVELS, 

RECENTLY PUBLISHED. 

•<>• 

I. 

‘ TRICOTRIN. 

The Story ot a Waif and Stray. By “ Ouida,” author of 
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author from steel. Fourth Edition. lamo. Cloth. $2. 
“ I'ricotrin is a work of absolute power, some truth and 
deep interest ” — N. V. Day Book. 

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DALLAS GALBRAITH. 

By M-rs. Rebecca Harding Davis, author of “ Life in 
the Iron Mills,” “Waiting for the Verdict,” etc. 
Second Edition. 8vo. Cloth. $2. 

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magazine.” — Phila. Morfiing Post. 

“ The story is most happily written in all respects.” — 
The North A merican. 

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THE OLD MAAP SELLERS SECRET 

After the German of E. Marlitt, author of “Gold El- 
sie.” By Mrs. A. L. Wister. Fifth Edition. 
i2mo. Cloth. $i 75. 

“ A more charming story, and one which, having once 
commenced, it seemed more difficult to leave, we have not 
met with for many a day.”— Round Table. 

IV. 

GOLD ELSIE. 

From the German of E. Marlitt, author of “The Old 
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Fourth Edition, izmo. Cloth. $1.75. 

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TUST ISSTJEZD! 

»o* 

An Important Work for all Libraries. 

MY RECOLLECTIONS 

OF 

LORD BYRON; 

AND 

THOSE OF EYE-WITNESSES 
OF HIS LIFE. 

BY 

COUNTESS GUICCIOLI. 

Two Volumes complete in one vol. 8vo. With Portrait 
from steel. Extra Cloth. $2.50. 

“This book is of great value, for it collects the varied 
opinions of Lord Byron’s biographers, and presents them 
at a glance.” — London Pall Mall Gazette. 

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“LEGIBLE, PORTABLE, HANDSOME AND CHEAR’ 

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THE GLOBE EDITION ^ 



BULWER’S NOVELS 

—*<>•— 

This Edition of the Novels of Sir Edwar 
Bulwer Lytton, Bart. (Lord Lytton), is no 
complete in Twenty-two neat i6mo. Volume; 
printed on Tinted Paper, with engraved Frontij 
piece, each of the volumes averaging over 70 ‘ 
pages, handsomely bound in Green Morocc ! 
Cloth. I^rice $ 1.30 vol. Also boun 
in a variety of handsome styles, suitable fo 
Libraries. I 

I'he following are each complete in on i 
volume : 

The Caxtons.— Pelham. — Eugene Aram.— The Las 
of the Barons.— Lucretia.—Devereux.— The Last Day 
of Pompeii.— Rienzi.—Godolphin.— A Strange Story 
Zanoni.— Harold. — Leila, Pilgrims of the Rhine, am | 
Calderon,— Night and Morning. — Ernest Maltravers,- I 
Alice.— Paul ClifiFord.— The Disowned. ■ 

Each complete in two volumes : 

“ My Novel.’'-“What will he do With it 7” | 

EACH NOVEL SOLE SEPARATELY. | 

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PHILAEELPHIA. 1 


LIPPING OTT’S ' 

1 

PRONOUNCIN& 

GAZEITEER OF THE WORLD, 

OR 

GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY, i 

GIVING A 

Description of nearly 100,000 places, 

WITH A 

CORRECT PRONUNCIATION OF THEIR NAMES. 

Revised Edition of 1866, with an Appendix, containing 
nearly 10,000 new notices, and the most recent Statistical 
Information, according to the latest Census Returns of the 
United States and Foreign Countries. 

EDITED BY 

.1. THOMAS; M.D., ANH T. BALDWIN. 

In One Imperial Octavo Volume. Bound in Sheep. 
Price $10. 

FOB SALE BY ALL BOOKSELLEBS. 

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